Nygmob Series: To Parent a Hummingbird
by Nurse Rares Heart
Summary: Happy sugar love light stories split in two parts: Part I: Oswald and Edward are a happy villainous couple and proud parents of a sassy little girl they adopted: Iris Cobblepot-Nygma. Part II: the soul mate of their little nestling is simply James Gordon himself. Once they get together, hilarity and cuteness ensues with his future in laws and Ed's bridal 'special classes'.
1. Chapter 1: Origins part 1

**A/N: I´m here for everyone who is suffering because of all the unnecessary drama/angst that meanie-pants writers of Gotham are making us Nygmobblepot shippers live. If you are a mild shipper, a hardcore shipper, none of them, and/or a member of the Squad (thanks to AB Tumblr haha) you are welcome to calm down and relax reading a dose of weekly of cuteness here.**

 **Talking about Aurora Borealia, a HUGE thank you for her! For convincing me to start (surpassing my shyness) this little fluffy project and for proofreading for me today and the next ones! Also for having an amazing Tumblr! You guys should check it and the story she wrote about Ozzy and Ed too!**

 **This project has no date to end. I accept prompts from anyone to know what you want to read. Now enjoy! R &R**!

 _Chapter 1: Origins_

Gotham was as gray and uneasy as ever. The beginning of autumn wasn´t enough to change that even with the new orange, yellow and red colors in the leaves covering the streets and the roofs of the buildings, mostly because the trees were looking naked and dead without them.

Of course kids were enjoying the weird weather (neither cold nor warm as he would say) as Mayor Cobblepot could see against his own will that day during a mandatory charity event at an orphanage, an event to raise funds so it would remain open(event that lasted until late evening). So as the head of Gotham not only did he have to attend but also to donate a generous sum of money, but the worst part of all? Being there without Ed. Oswald hated him for it. He was his Chief of Staff, how could Nygma have another commitment at the same day and time? And how could it be more important?

If it was any other person, he would be dead for such lack of loyalty, but Oswald just loved Ed too much to kill him, and was very grateful to have him in his life as part of his staff and as boyfriend. And was also grateful for the wonderful hours they had shared in bed last night before Nygma told him what his only appointment for the next day would be and that he wouldn´t be there. He knew how much Oswald hated children thanks to all the bullying he suffered in his life. Luckily, the press vultures were already gone and the party was almost over so he could go home while thinking of a way to get revenge on his lover, despite having to admit that the place was quite nice for an orphanage, as it was a huge antique house just like in the movies, with a lot of outdoor space filled with green and small wildlife. Oswald was coming up with the perfect comeback plan. Or so he thought, as something caught his eye before the exit.

A child kneeling before a dry oak tree. Around her were red and yellow flowers and round black stones. The little one sang loudly and alone as if her life depended on it, and a raven followed closely. If the Mayor didn´t know better, he would believe it was a kind of ritual. Maybe the kid believed it, he thought, but what kept his attention was the song, pretty sad and melodic...

 _And I run and I hide in the dark_

 _Threatened by each distant bark_

 _Sleep little love for heaven's sake_

 _It's not your fault, it's your cruel, ruthless fate_

 _It's not your fault, it's your cruel, ruthless fate_

What if the girl (he could identify by the voice) had been leading a life as hard as his own? Was that why she was singing such unsettling lyrics?

 _Prophecy of the old age_

 _Still sounding out my son's decline_

 _He is the one to free us from the tyrant_

 _So I flee from bloodhounds eager to kill_

 _And I sing sleep well sweet child_

 _I am here to watch your dreams_

It´s not that Oswald couldn´t understand this kind of feeling but seeing it in another child was starting to disturb him. Also, as the Mayor he had to make sure all the citizens were safe and fulfilled, even the kids. So he had to talk to her, just like the other day in that school with the shy boy who was lonely and needed some incentive to play with others (and to push them down the stairs if they didn´t like him).

 _Don't mind the wolf, he is not near_

 _He's a friend of the night, my dear_

"Excuse me, little one" he approached her carefully from behind.

"Yes?" without thinking, she turned to face him; when she did, Oswald stood frozen in utter shock. He had never seen anyone like her before, especially anyone who looked so much like himself. And like Edward at the same time! The girl had a short and skinny frame, round and glittering ice blue eyes, medium length dark coffee brown curly hair, milk pale skin, rosebud lips, a pointy and a bit long nose, a heart-shaped face face and high cheekbones. Adding this to the bird-like shape of her clavicles, he started to feel the claws of fate showing in front of his own blue eyes again, just like when he won the election and realized his feelings for Ed.

"Sorry, I didn´t mean to interrupt your... Ritual" he added after some thought.

"What?" she looked surprised. "Oh! No... I was just fooling around" she confessed with a faint shade of red in her totally white cheeks.

"What? Why?" even he was amazed with the length of this conversation.

"So I could avoid the whole charity party. Why should I stand there like an object of decoration and pretend I get along with the other kids?" she answered looking uncomfortable with the topic.

"Should I understand that you don´t have friends here?" he asked as if he was looking in a mirror.

"Well, I do have two, actually. Anna and Lily. But they like these events way more than I do so..."the look in her eyes said everything about her current solitude.

"May I ask your name, little one?" he continued kindly.

"Iris. You?" she gave back.

"I´m the Mayor Cobblepot. But you can call me Oswald if it´s easier."

"Wow, the Mayor? So you are like, the boss of everyone in the city? Even of Mother Elena?"

"Elena?" he asked with a puzzled look. He couldn´t remember having met anyone with that name in the event. Not that he cared for asking for people´s names.

"Yeah. She is the nun who takes care of us all." Iris completed with no malice or ill feelings. At least she was not being treated poorly, Oswald thought.

"I see." he said unsure. "Say, Iris, would you like to be my friend?" he tried his best to smile surpassing his former hatred for children.

"For real?"her innocent eyes sparkled so much it was almost infectious, contrasting with her quiet and timid voice.

"You bet, little one." Oswald patted her head, messing her hair.

"Oh my... Of course I do" smiled shyly.

"Good. Now if you will give me a moment, I need to talk to this Mother Elena. Keep playing safe." And he excused himself with this.

Not long after, he was inside the old house talking to some younger nuns until finally meeting Elena, an older woman, with a chubby body and ginger hair inside her office.

"So, Mayor Cobblepot. What were you asking again?" she adjusted her red-framed glasses while searching for something in a metal locker.

"Iris. I want to know about her." He repeated with his thin string of patience almost over.

"Oh. Our shy and silent Iris, of course" she laughed amused while leafing through the pages of the little girl´s file. "She is a sweet girl, but painfully timid. In five years she has made only two friends and-"

"Wait!" Oswald cut her. "How long has she been here?"

"Since she was two years old. Iris lost her parents, her only family in a car accident." The nun explained sadly.

"I would never guess... She doesn´t look resentful at all."

"That´s because she´s not, Mr Cobblepot. Iris can´t remember them, nor the events of that fateful day. She doesn´t think it´s a bad thing being here in the orphanage, it´s the only home she has ever known."

"But!" he shouted astonished. "She has no other relatives?"

"No one we know of. Her parents were from Poland, they lived here as immigrants but Iris was born here. At the very best she may have some distant ones in Europe but I doubt it, honestly. Otherwise someone would have tried to contact."

"I see." Oswald replied shocked. She was basically alone in the world. Not that the other kids at the orphanage weren´t like that, but they weren´t his problem. Only... Iris was?

"Well, what else can I tell you? Her full name is Iris Juliet Kijek, she is seven years old, born on the 23rd of December, is well-behaved, mature, melancholic and very creative. She enjoys solo activities like drawing, painting, reading and singing. She is like a little princess, even the animals like birds and rodents seek her company!" the nun kept reading and adding all she could remember, until Oswald cut her off.

"It´s enough!" Oswald barked finally. "I´ll take her."

"Excuse me, Mr Mayor?"

"Are you deaf, old lady? I said I´m taking her with me."

"Really? Are you saying you want to adopt Iris?" she couldn´t hide her wonderment.

"Well, I´m pretty sure that there´s no one more suited for the role. Although I can´t understand why is she still here after five years."

"Who knows? Maybe it´s fate, Mr Mayor. Maybe she was waiting for this exact day to come." She smiled.

"Must be it. Now I´m going to tell her" he prepared to leave.

"Wait! You must fill in the paperwork first!"

"You must be kidding me, woman. I´m the Mayor. Common people fill in paperwork, I don´t. Also, I´m not going home without Iris." There was it: the Penguin facial expression, which left no doubts.

"Perhaps your Chief of Staff would take care of the bureaucracy?"

Oswald laughed. "Perhaps not. He will be as busy as me. But you can send this to our office and maybe tomorrow I can convince him. If you know what I mean."

What an obedient girl she was; Iris hadn´t left the place where Oswald told her to wait. His hope was that she would like the news.

"Hey, Iris!"

"Oswald!" she felt at ease enough to hug him.

"So... What would you think of being more than my friend? Like, being family?"

She didn´t respond to that. Instead her eyes felt wet and warm as she couldn´t control the tears running her pale face.

"Aw, come on... Don´t cry." He tried his best to dry her eyes.

"Sorry... It´s just... A family..." she kept crying "Then I would have someone like this in the world. I would never be alone again."

"Yes. It will be a bond forever." He pulled her in for a comforting hug.

"Also, you are my only and best male friend. What could be better than having you as my dad?"

"Honey, this will get better very soon. For now let´s go to your new home."

"Okay. Ozzy must be mad at me but what could I do? How could I go to the charity event if I had to deal with all the public relations issues we had last weekend? The magazines were going to make him look like a criminal again!" Ed Nygma said to himself while waiting for his boyfriend to come home to their mansion. He was a bit worried because Oswald was late, he knew the event was already over, but he also knew it was highly illogical to suppose that something bad had happened to him. He was still the king of Gotham´s underworld after all. As it was almost dinner time anyway, Ed kept himself distracted with one of his many talents: cooking a nice meal to be forgiven for his absence. Not that he didn´t appreciate spoiling Oswald sometimes, because he definitely did; his life had became way easier when he had understood that he couldn´t find luck or happiness with women and that his soulmate was by his side the whole time.

The sound of the door opening interrupted his thoughts. Time to apologize. Or it was going to be if Oswald was alone.

"Hello, Ed." Oswald went on and kissed him on the lips as if nothing were different.

"What is happening here?"Ed seemed genuinely confused.

"Oh, Ed. You are a genius and yet can´t tell?"

"All I know is that you were at an orphanage event and now you´re here, late and with a kid."

"What else?"Oswald challenged him.

"Oswald, who is she?"

"Here is a riddle for you: she had no family, now she has one. I´m thinking of calling her Iris Juliet Cobblepot-Nygma."

"You. Adopted. A. Girl?!"shouted."Without telling me?!"

"I´m surprised at myself too, Ed. I still hate most kids though. But Iris is different. She is like me. And like you. Just look carefully."

"It´s really... Astounding..." Ed admitted after studying her physically. "Like if she were the result of ours DNA combined biologically."

"That´s one of the reasons she will be our daughter! Come on, Ed. It will be fun!"

"Oswald, even if I want a child, how are we going to explain... You know." He grew embarrassed.

"No. What?"

"Why there´s no feminine figure in this house and you and I..."

"Excuse me, Mr Nygma" Iris cut him in.

"Yes? Sorry, I never introduced myself properly. I´m-"

"I know. Oswald told me all about you in the car. What I want to say is that I don´t get what there is to explain. That you two are married?"

"No."

"Yes!"

"Oswald!"

"Ed!"

"We are not, Oswald."

"Legally not yet but I´m the Mayor! We could sign the papers anytime!"

"Let´s not talk about this now!"

"Look, all I´m saying is that I´m happy to find a home. I liked the nuns and all but I will be happy here anyway." Iris continued to talk.

"Let´s chat while we have dinner, okay?"Ed said to Oswald. "I made a lot of food, thinking that you would be wanting to kill me".

"Oh, our first family meal. So exciting!" Iris had never felt like this before.

"You know, Ed. I wanted to get revenge and maybe I am having it, after all now we are more bonded than ever, you will never get rid of me, with our little hummingbird here." Thinking of her love for nature and music, Oswald came up with the affectionate nickname.

"A penguin and a hummingbird? Am I living in an aviary?"Ed laughed.

"If I can stand your riddles, you can do this too."

"Fine. Let´s go shopping tomorrow."

"That´s right. We will need to buy children´s things now."

"Not only that. You and I will need something too."

"What is that?"

"All the books and guides in parenting we can find in the shelves, my lovebird."

"Also I need to tell Olga to not bother her and not let anyone bother her too." He remembered.

"By the way, do you know the origin of her name? In Greek mythology, Iris was the goddess of the rainbow, a messenger for Zeus and Hera who rode the rainbow as a multicolored bridge from heaven to earth. In ancient times, the Iris was considered a symbol of power and majesty, the three petal segments representing faith, wisdom and valor. This colorful image led to the naming of the flower and to the colored part of the eye. And also did you know that-"

"Ed, shut up. I swear to God!"

"Yeah, daddy! Not now!" Iris agreed impatiently.

"Wow. For a timid girl she is warming up quickly huh? I'm already her daddy?" Ed struggled to not giggle at how adorable it was hearing her say that.

"Well, that's what you are, after all. We are her parents from today on. Anyway she must be hungry is she lost her temper like that." Oswald thought it was another thing they had in common. And how proud his mother would be if she could see them now and meet Iris.

"Yes. Ed is my daddy and Oswald is my papa." She smiled while making both of them hold her small hands.

So they knew what a family they were going to be.


	2. Chapter 2: Origins part 2

**A/N: Hi everyone! Happy to see how many visitors the first chapter had! If this is helping to calm down your hearts, then nurse Rares is happy enough!**

 **Anyone can ask me or suggest anything. BTW, some stuff I use here do exist (e.g. the books I mention and the parenting theories, that are real).**

 **Also, thanks again AB(Aurora) for the good work and for the spreading so more people can receive their medicine. Let´s spread hope and fluffiness specially after 28/11!**

 **AND please, Nygmobblepot family, stop the fighting between ourselves. We love and wish for the same thing!**

Chapter 2: Origins- Part 2

The night had been as peaceful as possible for Iris, Oswald and Ed. Having the little girl around was a nice change because she was joyful and pleasant, so the dinner was genuinely homelike as if she was part of their family since the beginning. However, she didn´t speak much because she was busy eating, so Iris wasn´t really interested in Edward´s riddles and then the adult men used the time to discuss the technical aspects of her adoption.

It was only when Iris was totally quiet and had stopped moving that they saw her sleeping in her chair in a "food coma state".

"Okay… What do we do now?" Ed peered at Iris´s face.

"What do you mean, Ed? Let the servants do their job with the dishes and let´s put her to bed." Oswald stood up as quietly as he could and took her from the seat.

"Oswald, first of all, let me carry her, you need to be careful because of your leg." Nygma took Iris in his arms. "Also, are you sure? She can´t go to sleep like this. She needs a bath, a change of clothes and to brush her teeth at least!"

"As obsessed with order and personalcare as ever, huh Ed? But in all honesty, do you really think that she will wake up any time soon?" he pointed at the girl´s deeply closed eyes and half-opened mouth.

"Fine." Ed gave up. "But only for today. I won´t stand this lack of neatness in a child of mine."

"Deal. Now let´s put her in our room." Oswald sighed too tired to argue.

"What? Why not in a guest room? The mansion has a lot of them."

"Because she knows nothing about this place, Ed. She arrived today. What will happen if she wakes up in any empty unknown room? It will be as traumatic to her as being an orphan!" the Penguin explained incisively. Nothing would make him change his mind.

"But I don´t think that co-sleeping at seven will-"

"It won´t be co-sleeping, okay?!" he interrupted. "The room has a spare bed just fit for her size. Now shut up or she will wake up, you loudmouth giraffe!"

"Oswald, I swear, if you weren´t my boyfriend..." Ed needed a lot of patience when Oswald was mad like that for no real reason, just him being childish.

"Then you would still be trying and failing in finding some relationship with women. The end. Now, again, shut up, I´m serious!"

After arranging some pillows and sheets on the bed and taking off her shoes (so they wouldn´t hurt her during the night), it was time to put the little one there.

"I will lay her down on her left side because she just had dinner. Otherwise her stomach will be too high and all the acids will come to her mouth and make her-"

"Just do it! It was a hard day. Leave the trivia for tomorrow morning." Oswald complained.

"Talking about tomorrow… I already made some phone calls for the office." Ed said while laying Iris down and covering her with a blanket.

"And?"

"And I said we need the day off, and that the next days will also have the schedule changed a bit."

"Did you say why?"

"Not really. Don´t worry, Mr mayor." Ed winked at him and laughed. "But they will need us there at least by evening tomorrow."

"How´s that? You are my chief of staff! Can´t you make us have the whole day?!" Oswald whined clearly disappointed.

"Sorry, Os. But not the whole day. Not if you want more free hours in the coming weeks at least. We have Iris now, but you are the mayor. We have a city to make safer. A city full of lunatics. Don´t you want to achieve your campaign promises even more now?" he looked the soundly sleeping Iris.

"She is so beautiful. She deserves it." Cobblepot decided. Even if he and Ed couldn´t have all the leisure time they would wish to spend with her, it was to ensure her future in a better Gotham. And then they should make the most of the time together.

"Now let´s make the arrangements for tomorrow´s shopping trip and also for the servants that will need to deal with Iris. But before it, want to hear something interesting?"

"Come on, Ed. We just had a moment here." Oswald said with a half-smile. He simply didn´t know how to push him aside at times like that.

"Research shows that three passionates kisses a day can double your metabolic rate." Nygma took Oswald´s hand.

"So?" Oswald asked letting Ed take the action pushing him against his much taller body.

"It can help you lose up to a pound".

"Are you calling me fat?" he didn´t know if he should take offense or not.

"You won´t be if you do what I´m telling you to. So you will burn all the calories from dinner."

"Calling a penguin fat. So origi-" Oswald couldn´t finish because suddenly his lips were way too busy. The other tasks would have to wait a few minutes.

And so the morning came as fast as the hummingbird´s sleep.

The sun entered through a small gap between the curtains, its light reaching Iris, showing what a summery day it would be despite the normally gloomy atmosphere of the city. She opened her ice blue eyes, still feeling them heavy, not knowing where she was. Her naturally curly hair was a complete mess and she was wearing the same clothes as the day before. She slept all night long without waking up, but she couldn´t remember if she had any dreams. Her child mind was still remembering the day before, when she was surprised by the sight of two people:

"Good morning, hummingbird!" Oswald, still wearing his favorite night robe, gave her a peck in the cheek.

"I hope you had a pleasant night´s sleep, Iris."

The girl still blinked looking at them, mostly focusing her attention on Gotham´s mayor. "Oswald?"

"Yes?"

"So… Yesterday really happened? It wasn´t a dream?" she beamed.

"Technically we still need to sign some papers, but yes, Oswald brought you home and now you are our daughter." Ed explained.

"That´s even cooler today!" she jumped out the bed to hug both of them.

"I´m glad you are enjoying it, but we have a long day ahead, honey. So take a bath and then breakfast. The same for you, Oswald." Nygma already had their schedule in hands, looking as professional as ever.

"Fine." Cobblepot sighed. "Do you need help with this, Iris?" he asked not knowing how much she could take care of herself already.

"No, papa. I always did this much by myself at the orphanage." she answered with a faint smile.

"Well, since it´s our first day as a family and because you are only seven years old, I don´t see why I can´t help you." he stated after seeing her sad face.

"Oswald, do you think we have time for this?" Ed wasn´t pleased at the idea of being late for the schedule he carefully made the day before.

"Leave her alone, Ed. It won´t take long. Now Iris, let´s choose some clothes and go to the bathtub for a bubble bath! We can even sing the 'clean up song' there! Don´t tell anyone but Ed created this song!" he giggled.

"Okay! See you at breakfast, daddy!" Iris smiled to Ed and followed Oswald.

"Oh God, what am I going to do with these hungry, and now bedhead, and late, birds?" Nygma asked himself.

Almost an hour passed until they appeared in the dining room. Of course they were all neat and tidy, Iris even had her hair washed and it was still a bit wet. The only two certainties for Edward were that they had had a lot of fun and that the bathroom was left a complete mess. The right employees would take care of this, but Ed loved rules and order, so it wasn´t good for his mood. Nor was the scene in the breakfast table:

"Very good, hummingbird. Say 'ah' to papa!" Oswald gave her a spoonful of cereal with chocolate milk. The girl was in the chair by his side.

"Oswald, you must be kidding me! She is seven!" Nygma complained.

"So?" he looked annoyed at his boyfriend. "Okay, another one!" he kept feeding her.

"She. Can. Eat. By. Herself!"

"Oh, Ed. You are so oblivious my dear! Of course she can, but where´s the fun in family breakfast without this?"

Iris just nodded.

"Can´t you at least give her something more nutritious? This cereal is purely sugar!"

"Very well. How about some fruit for my precious chick?" Oswald cut an apple into tiny pieces, covered them in honey and put one by one into her mouth.

"Do you want to lose the shopping trip? Did you forget we will need to go to work later?" Ed reminded him.

"Of course not. But that doesn´t mean I´m happy about it." he cleaned the little one´s mouth with a napkin and finished his own meal.

"We will be out for like, a couple of hours. I´m pretty sure that the staff of the mansion can keep an eye on her until we are back."

"Papa, what does this mean?" this little talk got her attention.

"You see, hummingbird..." he started awkwardly. "As you know, papa is the mayor and daddy is my chief of staff, and today we will need to go to our office and-" he stopped by seeing her eyes watering. "Ed, do we really need to?!"

"Yes, Oswald! We talked about this yesterday! I did my best to make a new schedule that allows us to work on both your fields and still spend time with our new daughter here, starting today." Nygma stared at Iris. "You need to understand. That´s what adults do. They need to work so they can make the life of their kids better. Also, when they get home, the time they spend together is even more special." he spoke without a trace of hesitation.

"Really?" Iris muttered.

"Yes. It´s because we already love you that it will work like this." he patted her head.

"I… I understand, daddy." she said feeling soothed.

"Good. I´m happy that you are that comprehensive. Now let´s get the car." Ed led the other two to the inside of the vehicle. The three sat on the backseat, as the driver had the instructions about which route to follow since the day before. "What in heavens is she wearing?" he pointed at the girl´s outfit: a completely black one-piece dress with long puff sleeves, a voluminous skirt and many interlaced laces, paired up with equally tint dark socks and shoes. Adding such clothing to her pale skin, ice blue eyes and brown hair, she was definitely looking like a startling, yet fascinating, porcelain doll. In other words, fetching in a dark fashion.

"Exactly what she chose, my dear." Oswald answered with a huge grin.

"Os… Iris is just a child! You can´t let her have a say in everything! If she says what she will wear or not and what she will eat or not, she will start saying if she goes or not to school. And if she will come home or not! Then when you finally see it, we will be visiting her in Arkham!" Ed shouted.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Cobblepot stared dumbfounded at him.

"Perhaps I went too far." he coughed embarrassed. "What I meant is that this outfit simply is not appropriate."

"Don´t worry my poor giraffe, we will buy a lot of clothes that you find appropriate for her now." he saw that they had arrived at the first stop: a three story store. "This will be a hell of a lot of fun! Don´t you agree, hummingbird?"

"Yes, papa!" Iris smiled and took his free hand, the one that wasn´t holding a closed umbrella. "Daddy, let´s go!" she called Ed.

As soon as they started searching for suitable and necessary items, Ed asked himself why they couldn´t have just done some good and old online shopping, because together Oswald and Iris had A LOT of energy to spare between all the departments from her beloved dresses to all the doll-like shoes she wished for(and between them some clothing that Ed approved of, some that Oswald approved of himself and some that only Iris liked) and of course she would need many accessories, winter clothes, sleeping clothes, casual and formal outfits(since she was the mayor´s daughter she was going to have events to attend too) and guess what, they had a toys section! Two more hours to spend there then!

"Oswald?"

"Yes, Ed?"

"How long will this last until you buy something useful?!" he snapped at the sight of a pile of things in the cashier.

"Oh, right. You mean things for 'tidiness' and things for educational purposes, and your books." Oswald sighed annoyed.

"Pretty much, my hungry penguin."

"Another fat joke?! Make a third one and you are out of my bed!"Cobblepot hissed". "Fine. We have no time to waste after all." he finally agreed.

"First of all, I didn´t make any fat joke! And secondly, you finally think we are ready to go to the next stop?" Ed still couldn´t believe how much Oswald was loving their shopping.

After checking out and getting many shopping bags, they stopped by a handful of other stores to get all kind of stuff one can imagine, anything to prevent a fail. Maybe even too much stuff.

"You want me to believe that she needs a one-hundred percent Egyptian cotton sheet set? With satin weave? And one-thousand threads? Really? Do you know that she can and probably will vomit in it?" Nygma stated.

"Of _course_ she won´t do it! Right, hummingbird?" he asked while feeding her a cut PB &J sandwich. Unfortunately they couldn´t understand her answer because her mouth was glued. "And what about you, Ed? Do you seriously believe that she will use an abacus? Or any of that educational crap?" he said in an accusatory tone.

"May I ask you why not, my beloved?" he felt insulted. Besides, Oswald was still spoiling Iris with the feeding, and they were in public this time.

"Because everyone hates that stuff, that´s why! Ed, the hot milk, please."

"Here." Ed gave to him a cup with a straw. Oswald put it in Iris´s mouth so the peanut butter would detach from her teeth. "That´s better. I was afraid we would need to take her to the doctor." he breathed in relief.

"Because of peanut butter?!" Edward was definitely not recognizing the Penguin like this. "Os, I´m afraid you will become a permissive parent."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, a parent who spoils the kid and demands nothing from her. I know it´s our first day in this thing but you should be careful."

"What book did that come from? 'Parenting with love and logic' or 'The whole-brain child'?" he mocked. "Now talking seriously, Ed. That´s just cold. I know what 'permissive' means and it´s not what I´m trying to achieve. But you know how my life was. I had my mother´s and for a very brief moment, my father´s love. I craved it for so long, Ed. I still miss it nowadays. I want to give to this little one all the love and care that I can while I´m here, and by doing it I can feel this kind of love too. Nothing more and nothing less. Don´t you understand me?" Oswald smiled sadly. Luckily Iris couldn´t get what all that meant.

"Os… I´m sorry, okay? Sorry for doubting you. I understand. And I want the same thing, to be the best parent I can for Iris. And the best partner I can be for you." he smiled and apologized. "Just… Don´t overdo the whole 'give all the care' thing, alright?" he still thought the mouth-feeding and the pampering was a bit too much.

"I will try. Now Iris, your veggies." Oswald put the little bowl with carrots, peas and celery in front of the girl.

"No!" she screamed.

"What now, missy?" Ed stared at her.

"I… I don´t wanna green stuff!" she made a disgusted face.

Definitely they didn´t know how to deal with this kind of situation. They never were picky-eaters and would never guess that a kid that came from an orphanage could be one.

"Come on, hummingbird. It´s good for your little body. If you eat this, then you can grow and be tall like daddy!" Oswald tried.

"No! I want to be a little girl forever!"

"Iris, it has the right amount of vitamins for someone of your age. The carrots will do wonders for your vision." Ed said, and all he got was Iris tilting her head at him.

"Then daddy didn´t eat his carrots? Daddy uses glasses." she giggled.

"That´s just great. A smartypants." Ed muttered under his breath.

"You… You don´t need to eat today if you don´t like it." Oswald gave up.

"Oswald, that´s it? She needs to be able to eat all the kinds of food!" Ed disapproved.

"As if you were one to talk! Mr 'I have a psychological allergy to onions'!"

"Hey! It´s a real and serious issue!"

"As if!"

Their little exchange was starting to attract attention to them, and Iris still hadn´t eat the veggies. Suddenly, an idea hit Nygma:

"Iris, do you like games?" he asked nicely.

"Yes!" she answered innocently.

"Good, because I have one for you right now!" he took out from his pocket two red dice.

"Ed, what is this? Are you going to bet with a kid?!" Cobblepot disliked the thought.

"No, why would I, Os?" he calmed the mayor down and faced the girl."Honeybee, daddy will give you these two cubes. They are called 'dice'. Throw them in any way you like it. Whatever number it shows is how many veggies you will have to eat before we can leave this place. Doesn´t this sound fun?"

"Oh. My. God." Oswald talked to himself. It was unbelievable.

"Yes!" Iris agreed.

"What?!"

"Good. Go ahead, sweetie." he encouraged her.

Iris knew nothing about throwing dice or whatever, but she liked swinging things and playing. So she did it. And the number she got after after adding up both sides was ten. To her parent´s surprise, she followed the rules and ate ten pieces of veggies. Another crisis prevented by Edward Nygma, the best chief of staff and boyfriend ever.

"Wow, Ed. How do you do this?" Oswald was still impressed. The family were going back home so Nygma and Cobblepot could go to the office.

"The secret is to think fast and aim for the best results, Os." he smiled pulling him into a side hug.

"It seems like I can learn a lot from you in this category." Oswald admitted.

"Never. I know as much as you about parenting. We will manage all of this together. We are cultivating a third life along with ours. It´s sempiternal." he watched Iris, who was too busy playing with one of the plush toys they bought(ironically a purple bat), to listen to their conversation. "Also, I made an appointment with the interior designer that the heads of Gotham usually hire."

"What for?"

"She needs a proper room, Oswald. Or do you think she can sleep in ours forever?"

"...No. Why would you say that?" he laughed forcibly. "Anyway, first thing is to sign and submit the papers of her adoption that are already in the office."

"I know. So the hummingbird will be legally ours..." he looked happy thinking about it. "But won´t it be too obvious with her surname being both yours and mine?" Ed spoke out of concern.

"So what? Don´t act as if everyone didn´t know already Ed! Guess what, they call you 'Gotham´s first man' behind your back all the time!" he revealed.

"They what?!" at that moment Ed wished for a hole in which to hide. "Since when?!"

"And now, maybe we can have a press release presenting the mayor´s and chief of staff´s daughter, their newest pride and joy!" he ignored the question.

"I´m pretty sure it can wait, Os. Now the servants will have a few hours with her until dinner time."

"Oh, what a jolly good time awaits for them! Let´s make everyone unload the car and make Iris go inside. Who will look after her?"

"As you must suppose, Olga, the even older maidservant Miranda and that youngster chamberlain Steve. I believe that they will be enough." Ed had put a lot of thought into the subject.

"Terrific! They already know that she can´t be pestered in _any way_. So it´s fine."

With everything settled, Oswald finally felt at ease to go to work.

"Bye, hummingbird! Papa and daddy love you! We will be back very soon! Be nice if you want to!" he kissed her forehead.

"Have fun, sweetie!" Ed gave her a wink, as if he knew that she wouldn´t be THAT nice without them around her.

Oh well, what could a kid with new toys, crayons in hand, curiosity, energy and a house full of rooms to discover, books to read (or not) and servants do that would be _so_ mischievous, right? _Right?_


	3. Chapter 3: Daddy's Turn

**A/N: Hi everyone! Here comes this weekend´s dose of our medicine! Hope you enjoy, but some notes first:**

 **\- As always, thanks AB for your amazing and patient job of proofreading! It always turns out better because of this! And for your reviews too! Aaaand for even mentioning it in "As We Breath" (guys, go read this, seriously! It´s awesome Nygmobblepot material. And her other fic "Parade of Souls" is a Must too)**

 **\- To the guest who reviews called sydney: your last review put me to think about the "what if Jim/Bullock/Babs/Tab met Iris" scenarios so I´m working on some prompts in this to work out fine, so thank you**

 **-To the new followers: even if u are shy or busy to review I´m glad this story enter and calm your hearts, that´s my true objective after all, not the number of reviews or recommendations in other sites or whatever. :)**

 **And finally, some of you may have noticed that I changed the synopsis to something that explains better this fic´s universe. And soon Jim will appear in the story soon (probably in the chapter after the Xmas one -yes it will have a holidays special) so I changed the characters list too. PS: Again, the things I used here are real.**

 **Now enjoy some nerdy and caring Ed ;)**

Chapter 3: Daddy´s Turn

"Iris. Juliet. Cobblepot. Nygma." a strict-toned voice from someone clenching their teeth called her full name.

"What now, daddy?" Iris replied calmly. It had been a few weeks since the little girl´s adoption, and since the renovation of the chosen room for her, from where she answered. And thanks to Oswald, Iris could choose any template that made her heart happy, and for her it was a dark forest theme, like in a twisted fairy tale: all the wood and flowers that could be there, were, against midnight blue walls and dark purple long curtains, besides, all her favorite toys were exposed in shelves illuminated by green neon lights (and since Iris had taken a liking to creepy-looking dolls, it wasn´t making the room any less uncomfortable to whoever entered it). Oswald and Edward were already used to it and to her unusual(and as expensive as papa´s) tastes as well, so the former forensics worker went on to speak to their child:

"Don´t 'what now, daddy' me, missy! Haven´t you heard what the servants told me about your behavior last night?"

"No. What?" she put her pullip doll Midnight Velvet in a small wooden chair in front of a table set up for a tea party. With a real porcelain tea set. Her papa couldn´t say no to this request of hers after all.

"That you ran across the mansion scrawling the walls with crayons, and what is stranger, only with the black, the green, the blue and the purple ones!" he started the list.

"Because these are my favorite colors!" she defended.

"That´s not the point, missy. What else did they say? Oh, that´s right: you threw the dinner Olga made for you on the floor, ate a bunch of candy with soda instead, left your plush toys on the main room floor, you jumped on the velvet couch until you vomited on it, and I told Oswald this would happen if he left you play there and eat candy without supervision!" he shouted red with anger. He wasn´t even finished yet. "Also, you made Steve give you a piggyback ride through every part of this house, and Miranda told me that this time you brought home two cats, a raven, three squirrels and a deer! And none of this was a first time occurrence!"

"They are my friends!"

"They are wild animals! Os had told me that you attracted them. Look, Iris, I understand that you are a child and that you like them." Ed tried to speak in a more civilized way. According to the books, screaming wouldn´t make her understand what was wrong.

"Not as much as I like flowers!" she smiled as if nothing was happening.

"Yes. I can see this by the way you always leave the botanical section of my personal library turned upside down." he sighed, trying his best to remain patient. Why wasn´t Oswald there? "What I´m trying to say, my child, is that wild life can´t pass this mansion´s doors. They must stay outside. They are not pets. As for the other complaints, of course we don´t expect you to be a saint, but the servants are having a hard time, Iris. We won´t pay extra for them to take care of your mischief every time we go to work and they need to look after you. So, you need to play your part and take it easy." he sat by her side on the floor so the eye contact would be easier. "That nun said you were a mature girl, was it a mistake?"

"No! I´m a grown up girl, daddy!" she said surely.

"Then why did you freak out in the dentist´s office last week?" he teased.

"I didn´t!" Iris pouted.

"Oh yeah? Then kicking the table of instruments and running away screaming isn´t freaking out?" Ed had been angry at her when this happened, but talking about it made the story sound way funnier.

"That old man was going to pull out my teeth!" Iris explained with a mad tone.

"Only the decayed one, honeybee. And it was a milk-tooth anyway. Luckily we found you before you got into that cab. Honestly, Oswald is too mild with you for his own good. If it depended on him, you would have fled to anywhere in the city." the chief of staff patted her head. "Will you do better next time you are alone with the servants?"

"I´m gonna try." she crossed her arms in a sign of frustration. "Where´s papa?" Iris had noticed no sign of Oswald the whole day.

"He will spend the afternoon and maybe the evening working, my dear. Don´t forget he is the mayor." Nygma explained kindly.

"But why isn´t daddy with him then?" she stated puzzled.

"Because in the place he is now, I won´t be needed." he avoided details. There was no easy way to tell Iris that the business Oswald was attending that afternoon were the underworld ones, as the Penguin. For the 7 year old he was simply her beloved parent and mayor of Gotham. And this beloved parent had asked her other parent to spend the day with their child, since both of them were excused from the office for the day.

"I see." she answered unsure. "Can I go back to my tea party now?"

"Of course." he coughed. "Or we can, you know, use this opportunity to spend some quality time together." Ed suggested. For an authoritative parenting style, it was necessary to demand and to provide warmth by the same amounts, this included doing activities with the kid.

"Afternoon with daddy?" she thought for a few moments. "Okay!" Iris chirped. It was a rare chance after all. And she knew almost nothing about Edward, as he wasn´t the most talkative with her and most of the time she was with Cobblepot anyway.

"Excellent. Come downstairs once you finish putting your toys in place." he stood up.

"What?!"

"As I said, don´t make the servants work more than they need to. You can perfectly handle this by yourself, honeybee." and he left with this order, making clear the difference between him and Oswald.

Soon Iris arrived at the main room, wearing another of her weird choice of outfits: a light gray cotton dress paired up with black trousers, heavy boots, a deep blue cardigan and a dark gray wool scarf. Together it made many layers of clothing, but this battle was one that her parents weren´t fighting as long as it wasn´t for an official event.

"Hey, Iris, did you know that it takes an average of two weeks for a hummingbird to complete its migratory journey? And that in preparation for the journey, ruby-throated hummingbirds double their weight?" there it was. Ed making research on hummingbirds subject.

"No, daddy. I didn´t." she sighed. She surely wasn´t expecting that.

"Oswald doesn´t know a lot about penguins either. He should study more about the origins of his nickname." Ed commented. "Talking about origins, do you want to know about your previous surname´s one?"

"Do you mean, the one I had in the orphanage?"

"Exactly. Not long ago you were miss Kijek. The meaning is 'small stick' in Polish. Which makes sense if you ask me."

"Maybe one day I will be as tall as daddy. I eat my veggies when we play that game." she reminded him. The dice idea was working like magic since the first day.

"Perhaps. Your bone structure is pretty similar to mine after all. Just look at your shoulders and your cheekbones." Ed studied her. "Really fascinating. If I didn´t know better, even I would think that you are our biological child. Of course I´m joking because everyone knows how human reproduction works, and I assure you, it can´t happen in our case without help."

Such conversation was only making Iris´s head more confused since she knew nothing about biology or whatever he was talking about. "So… Daddy want to play something?" she cut in.

"Of course. Stimulating your mind at your current age is absolutely important to ensure you a brilliant academic future! So I thought that we could build something, like a 3D puzzle!" with a high enthusiasm, Ed put a box in front of Iris.

"What is this?" every minute it got more confusing.

"It´s almost like a normal puzzle, but the pieces are made of wood and we make a three-dimensional figure, something we can touch. In this case, a Saint Basil´s Cathedral model!" Ed knew how his own genius intellect craved challenges like that one.

"Okay… It can´t be that hard, right?" she laughed nervously.

Wrong.

The little one had literally no idea of what to do, so it was being a joyful activity basically for Ed only. Feeling bored and frustrated, she stood up from her seat without Nygma noticing (his interest firmly on the puzzle), went to where he was from behind, took his glasses and tried them on herself;

"GOSH, DADDY! HOW CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING WITH THOSE?!" her normally quiet voice went to such high-pitched tone that it startled him and made him drop the almost ready puzzle on the floor.

"Iris! What the hell was that?!"

"Sorry?" she offered.

"Can you at least give my glasses back?" he saw this as ANOTHER test of his patience and for his parental abilities. How had he not noticed her taking it from his face?

"Sure." Iris passed the glasses on to him. "So, what now?"

"Let´s go to the attic. I believe you will find the next part more interesting." Nygma was never more sure of how much difficulty he was going to face.

Much to little miss Cobblepot-Nygma´s bewilderment, there was a lab in the attic. A chemical lab.

"Wow! What´s all this stuff?" she was genuinely impressed.

"This, my child, is science! Just like old times when daddy worked at the forensics department of GCPD!"

"Where?" she looked baffled again.

"The police, honeybee."

"Daddy worked there?"

"In a certain way. How do you think I met your papa?" he chuckled remembering that day.

"I don´t know." Iris replied sincerely.

"Well, it´s a really long story, but it was at my work. He went there for a reason, I talked to him, a lot of things happened, and here we are." Ed smiled. "How about we study chemical kinetics? Like a chemical relaxation so we can neutralize some acids and bases!"

"How about this one?" she got a test tube marked with 'NaOH' on it.

"A strong base huh? The name is sodium hydroxide. It will fully dissociate in aqueous solution. In other words, put it in water. But before that, I would rather prepare the stopped-flow instruments first so we can use them to make a circular dichroism."

"I don´t get it, but fine!" she agreed.

"That´s my girl! Now get the acetic acid for daddy."

"Okay!" she said, having no idea of which one was the right tube. "Is this the right one?"She got one marked with 'HNO3'

"No, Iris, this is-"it was too late. She had already tripped and the content spilled on her leg. "Oh no… No! No! No! It was nitric acid! Aqua fortis! Highly corrosive and dangerous! Calm down, Ed! Don´t panic! It was totally dissociated already and she is wearing trousers, so no severe damages here. She just needs to change clothes and wash the area." he talked to himself. Oswald would literally kill him if Iris got a chemical burn. Or any other kind. Or simply any injury at all.

"Daddy, are you okay?" the ingenue girl looked concerned.

"Of course! And you will be okay in no time too, honeybee! Just go take a bath and change your clothes while daddy thinks of a less dangerous way of spending time with you." Ed was starting to feel woebegone with such a situation. Bonding with Iris was proving itself to be a real imbroglio, he thought sending her away.

Nygma and Oswald agreed on the parenting style in a general way despite the difference in how they handled Iris´s behaviors and habits sometimes. Cobblepot could be described as the 'fun parent', while Ed cared the most for the educational and the responsibilities part. For the couple this arrangement was working just fine, they complemented each other, and they loved the little orphan the same amount. Not that Ed could have guessed his life would turn out like that, he had never stopped to think about having a family, specially with another man, but there he was, it was pure fate. Still, he struggled to find a way to deepen his bond with Iris. Os made it looks so easy! She was definitely papa´s little Gothic princess; yes, she was kind of a weirdo for a kid; and she was a troublemaker when left home alone; but she was their daughter! Iris was without a doubt a lagniappe for them. And Edward Nygma was willing to take a parenting challenge to create some memories with her. Not without some riddles.

"You will always find me in the past. I can be created in the present, but the future can never taint me. What am I?" Nygma asked Iris when her lissome figure reappeared at the main room wearing an elaborated dark green dress.

"History." she answered quickly.

"Amazing. The first riddle I gave Oswald he couldn´t answer. I see you are a smart cookie." he nodded satisfied. "What is it that no man ever yet did see, which never was, but always is to be?"

"Tomorrow."

"It can be cracked, it can be made, it can be told, it can be played. What is it?"

"Jokes."

"Correct! What a glorious time to be alive! I have such intelligent and cute child!" a huge amount of satisfaction showed up in a proud smile.

"I´m happy if you are, daddy." she said unsure of how to react to his exaggerated demonstration of pride.

"By the way, how is your leg, sweetie?" he recomposed himself.

"Beats me." she answered pulling up her long skirt. The area where the acid spilled was a slight orange tone.

"It looks fine. This will heal soon. Papa doesn´t even need to know about this incident." he winked at her. "Now, want to have some fun in the kitchen?"

"I do! But Olga never lets me go there! She is a meanie!" Iris puffed her cheeks in anger.

"Normally, yes. But we can have the kitchen to ourselves today if her other option is having her work schedule rearranged to looking after you for the rest of the month. Alone." a mischievous grin played in his lips. Just an innocent old blackmail.

"Really?!" her ice blue eyes shone with the news.

"Just tell me what you want us to prepare." Ed had read in a list of parenting challenges an item saying to bring the kid to cook together, as this activity was good to make them learn responsibility, spend quality time with the parental figure and for them to bond while having fun in a safe environment.

"Can we bake something?" Iris suggested.

"Baking? Like, to make something sweet in the oven?" he took her in his arms and lifted her up.

"Yeah. Can it be cinnamon rolls?" she continued despite being a bit scared of the height she was in.

"Of course. Whatever you want. But any special reason, honeybee?" Nygma questioned while carrying her over for the kitchen.

"Not really." she lied.

 _Flashback:_

 _Oswald and Iris were having a small tea party with her dolls. Playing with his hummingbird was a 'must have' for the mayor. But she hated anything fake, so she always made a point of serving real tea and snacks._

" _So, which flavor did you choose today, hummingbird?" he asked while she poured the beverage in the porcelain cup._

" _Cinnamon, papa. I just love the scent." she smiled._

" _Oh, Iris… For a child´s play, your tea parties are quite sumptuous, aren´t they, my nestling?" Oswald giggled. "But I do agree. The cinnamon is a pretty redolent flavoring." he seemed lost in thoughts for some instants. "And it reminds me of your daddy too." he completed._

" _Of daddy?"_

" _Yes. Because when I first met him he was the exact definition of an innocent cinnamon roll." Cobblepot smiled nostalgically. "I loved it about him. I still do, actually. He is perfect just the way he is, you know? It was a long way for us, but he will always be my cinnamon roll after all." he finished his explanation to a perplexed little girl._

 _End of flashback._

Iris had to stay away of the 'dangerous' tasks like using the knife to cut the walnuts and pecans, and like heating the oven, but she did her best to help gather and mix the ingredients and to punch down the dough like it said in the recipe (and it was her favorite part).

"Daddy, may I ask something?"

"Sure. Go ahead." Ed encouraged her without looking up from his task of cutting up the dough.

"What happened to papa´s parents?"

"Well..." he chewed the inside of his cheek. It wasn´t an easy talk. "They are in heaven, honeybee. Bad people made it happen to them."

"And what about yours?"

"I… Don´t know." he admitted. "You see, my dear, they weren´t like your papa and like me. They didn´t love me as much as we love you." he hated talking about this subject, but he couldn´t avoid her questions, she had the right to know about their backgrounds. "So… I left their house as soon as I could and I haven´t heard from them since then." Ed sighed sadly.

"Sorry that I asked, daddy..." Iris had no intention of making Ed feel like that.

"It´s fine, sweetie. I have Oswald and you. That´s what matters." he reassured her.

"Daddy, did you always like boys?"

"What?!" he was taken by surprise. This one was going to be even tougher to answer. "Well, aren´t you being a Bee Hummingbird today? They really are the world´s tiniest living bird." Ed joked. But soon he saw that she was waiting for an answer. "Honestly, no. Oswald was the first one."

"Then who daddy kissed before?" she continued.

"A… Girl." he chose carefully the words while buttering the bottom of a baking pan. "But it was a totally different time of my life. And this girl is in heaven too." he took the sugar.

"But daddy likes boys more then?"

"Iris. I don´t know, okay? Your papa was the only other person I fell in love with. I´m with him now and this won´t change. Ever." Ed wished for this conversation to be over as soon as possible, otherwise it would become too complicated for a child to understand.

"Will I kiss boys or girls when I grow up?" she looked worried.

"Hon, it really doesn´t matter. As long as it´s someone you really like. Someday this will happen and you will know. But no need to worry over it now. You are so young and so free, you have a whole life ahead. And we will always be here for you." he led the talk in the best way he could.

"Thanks, daddy."

And with this, the whole afternoon and part of the evening went on as they cooked and talked more about Ed´s life and Iris´s doubts.

"Iris, papa just called. He will be late today. The meeting is keeping him longer than he thought."Nygma told their daughter when it was already night time.

"It´s fine." she said with no trace of sadness.

"Really? Aren´t you missing him?"

"I am. But… Papa can stay out a tiny bit longer, daddy..." she got closer to Ed and hugged him tightly. "Just a tiiiiiiiny little bit."

It was definitely the most affectionate and cute thing he had ever seen.

"Actually, I think so too, hon." for the first time, he squeezed his daughter. "How about I make us some dinner? We can have the cinnamon rolls with papa when he arrives. Will you eat creamy potato and ham soup?"

"Only with grilled cheese." she whined.

"Of course." he smiled at her picking habit.

When Oswald arrived home, things were way quieter than he had expected. Especially after the servant´s reports on Iris. The mayor wasn´t sure that Ed could handle her without his help.

"Eddie? Hummingbird? Where are you?" Oswald called.

"Over here, papa! The dining room!" Iris answered.

"Oh my nestling! How I missed you!" he kissed her cheek. "Are you eating… Soup?" he looked at her as if he was seeing a ghost.

"As long as I gave her a sandwich too, she agreed on having the soup." Ed explained.

"Even so, you are quite the miracle worker." Oswald greeted Nygma kissing his lips. "Our chick is a picky eater after all."

"Not really. But how was the important meeting with you-know-who?"

"I will tell you later. First I want to take a bath and eat something myself. And put Iris to bed too. But what have the two loves of my life done all day?" he smiled lovingly at them. Oswald would never imagine having a moment like that one before.

"We took our time to discover things we like to do together. Like baking." Ed stated. "By the way, she wanted to make cinnamon rolls for you."

"Really?" Cobblepot gave Iris a knowing glance and a mischievous smile. He knew too well what this kid was thinking about. And it was too adorable to bear it without hugging her. "You really are my child, aren´t you?" he cuddled her fondly.

"Yup." she answered simply. "Oh, and papa, do you mind if daddy put me to bed today?"

"What?!" Oswald couldn´t hide his shock.

"Only today." she asked with puppy eyes.

"Fine. I can see you two had a meaningful day together." he sighed.

"We surely created a bond today, Os." Ed smiled.

And so, after some cinnamon rolls for dessert, and with Iris in her blue bird pj's, already all bathed and tucked in her nest, it was bedtime story time. Edward was reading to her a polish folktale called 'the good ferryman and the water nymphs'.

"...The next day, after the burial of the late king, the beautiful sea-maiden, the beloved of the Sun, went back to the sea, to float about in her silvery canoe, in the company of the rainbow fishes, and to rejoice in the sunbeams. But the good ferry-man and his wife lived happily ever after, as king and queen. And they gave a grand ball to the nobility and to the people... The Self-playing Guitar furnished the music, the wonderful purse scattered gold all the time, and the king entertained all the guests right royally." Ed read the last sentence of the book. "So, honeybee, do you get what is the moral of this story?"

"I know. That..." she yawned. "The ferryman´s good deeds had a reward at the end. And that the bad people who were mean to him got the bad ending." Iris could feel her eyes getting heavier and heavier.

"Yes. So always be a good girl, hon. And now have sweet dreams." he was about to leave.

"I love you, daddy." she whispered, closing her eyes.

"I love you too, honeybee." Ed caressed her hair before heading to the exit.

"What a nice change." Oswald commented to him in the hall.

"We can always learn, Os. And this kid has a lot to teach both of us. It was really an enlightening day." he kept walking.

"I know. Now for the adult´s topics, both meanings intended, you can go to our room first. I´ll catch up with you in a few minutes."

"Of course you will. The wife is the last one to go to bed, after all." Ed laughed at his expression. Definitely this day was a memorable one.


	4. Chapter 4: Nightmare Night

**A/N: I´m glad so many people have been reading this actually! The graphics are making me happy as I understand that people have many reasons to read anonymously. So as long as my job is being done, it´s all good. I have to apologize because this one will be drastically shorter and simpler than the others because the Xmas one will need a lot more of me, so I need to go slow this week (also I´m busy with holidays IRL too). Please be patient with me ha-ha.**

 **Like always, thanks to my Commodore AB for helping out so much :)**

 **PS: remember anons and members, anyone can send me prompts here**

 **PS2: kudos to who got the reference in the title of the chapter and to who knows the song I used here! (if u don´t, i´ts from dire straits, Romeo and Juliet) :P**

 **Also, I wanna to explain something about the universe of this fic versus the canon series: the whole Isa-clone subplot never happened, but the dinner for love confession did (and it succeeded, that´s why Ed and Ozzie are together and everyone knows and see it naturally), while some of the other plots happened or are still ongoing (you will know which ones when I need and use them in the chapters, like in this one).**

 **R &R, Enjoy while we have the Gotham hiatus! And see ya next week with the Xmas special!**

Chapter 4: Nightmare Night

Nighttime. The sky was pitch black, the moon and the stars were covered by dense clouds, all the clocks in the city marked past midnight and most of the houses had all the lights turned off and the people inside were sleeping. At least that was the case in the mayor´s mansion; the day had been long and tiring enough to Oswald Cobblepot and Edward Nygma between mayoral work and underworld operation and even more adding 'Iris-services' to this. The little one was lovely, but demanding in the parenting sector, but even so Ed and Oswald wouldn´t trade her for anything in the world; despite the fact that not only had their worries increased (the couple had been discovering the meaning of the expression 'having a kid is having another heart living outside your body' each day) but also their tasks. So they had all the reasons to be exhausted.

It was going to be a calm and ordinary night of sleep; satisfied with the results of the day, the Penguin couldn´t feel more at ease embraced by his chief of staff while everything outside was dark and silent, his eyes heavy and his conscience ready to leave him. For Ed it was too late, he had already gone to dreamland. That is until he heard footsteps on the corridor.

'Oh no.' Oswald thought. 'It can´t be her. It´s so late at night… She certainly has been sleeping for hours already!'

"Papa! Daddy!" Iris appeared in front of Cobblepot with watered eyes.

'Crap.' his mind completed. The little girl was everything to him, but not when he was trying to sleep so badly and when he was pretty sure that no one was in danger. "What now, my nestling?" he managed to say.

"I… I can´t sleep in my room." she determined.

"Why´s that, hummingbird?"

"Because I´m scared." Iris trembled.

"Don´t tell me that today you decided that your dolls give you the creeps. You loved them until this morning and they cost me a good fortune you know!" Oswald rebuked her.

"That´s not it!" she yelled back. "I just had a bad dream about that Mad-"

"Iris?" Ed woke up. "What are you doing here, honeybee?"

"Daddy!" she finally started crying. "I´m afraid of the guy that was on the news this morning!"

"Ed. What the hell is she talking about?" Oswald wasn´t even a tiny bit happy hearing that. It was a rule of theirs to make Iris stay away from anything related to Gotham´s crimes and violence. She simply didn´t need to know about the darkness of the city, at least not so young.

"Os, It wasn´t on purpose, I swear." Nygma started apologizing. "Some new information about Jervis Tetch just popped out and suddenly the newspapers and the TV news were all talking about the last attack with the Alice blood again! So she saw about the founders party and what almost happened to you! When I arrived she had already watched it and started asking questions about the Mad Hatter and about why her papa almost died!"

"What? Then that´s why? Is she having nightmares about it?!" suddenly the mayor looked more wrathful than tired.

"Of course it could happen, Oswald. She has already lost parents before!" Ed felt the same way as him but wanted to see it by the rational side. "Iris, my dear child, I can see that you are upset. Do you want a hug?" he would try to comfort her first thing. She just nodded in response and walked to their bed, taking his offer.

"Hummingbird, I´m sorry for not listening to you. Papa is just so tired that I wasn´t thinking straight. Of course your feelings are important and you can come here if you are scared." he joined them in the hug.

"I… I can´t have anything happening to papa or daddy because of bad guys! I can´t lose my only family!" she cried harder. This was definitely disturbing her. Still she couldn´t know how they dealt with these guys themselves.

"And it won´t, okay?" Ed was the first to declare. "Do you know why?"

"Because your daddy always protects me and I do the same for him, hummingbird. Bad guys do exist, but they are not invincible. We also have other people that take good care of us, many friends that are like family." Oswald explained without detailing what it meant.

"And we will always protect you too, Iris. All of us. Because we love you." Nygma reassured.

"Yes, hummingbird. You are our life. We would never be apart of you." he kissed her tiny hand. With this little exchange she stopped crying. "Good, you are calmer. What do we do now?"

"According to the books, we must send her to her room and encourage her to be brave and have positive thoughts." Nygma stated in a very professional tone.

"Well, Eddie, how about 'screw your books' and we simply let her sleep with us today?" Cobblepot objected.

"Oh, Ozzie… Here we go, you are spoiling her rotten again!"

"I´M NOT!"

"Is that so? I´m pretty sure that at breakfast she cried because Olga put normal milk on the table instead of the chocolate one! And what did you do? Created a scene about 'how the servants want to make your nestling suffer even more than she already did in her short life' according to your words! And also yesterday, you bathed her despite her being capable of doing it by herself and even repeated the whole bath process because she made puppy eyes asking to wash her hair again!"

"Oh please, Ed! At least I´m not the one passing for a drastic transformation!" he mocked.

"Excuse me, my dear?"

"Yeah. You can act all tough, cold and technical with your parenting books, but I know how soft you have been becoming since that afternoon!"

"Well, I never said it was a problem to express love for our child! The problem is you spoiling her!"

"Again, I´m not! Now shut up and let her lay down there in the middle." he insisted.

"Fine. Come here, honeybee." Ed gave up on the useless argument and moved away a few inches for her to lay down between him and Oswald.

"Okay. Thanks, papa and daddy." Iris took her place. Despite being a bit strange for being the first time she did it (the room still had the spare bed she used in her first days after all), it felt like the right thing. "But I don´t think I´m sleepy." she confessed. "The nightmares took my sleep away!"

"You know what? I´m going to spread anti-monster spray in your room and here too. Meanwhile, daddy can tell you a story." Oswald stood up and left. He was almost giving up on sleeping too.

"Then, my child… What should our story be today? The eagles? The frog princess? The bear in the forest hut?" he listed some polish tales.

"Actually, daddy, I´m not in the mood for a story today, sorry..." Iris looked down. It was obvious that she had stopped crying, but was still upset by the nightmares and horrendous thoughts of losing her new parents.

"It´s fine, hon." Ed took her hand. "Then how about I sing for you until you fall asleep?"

"Sing?" she repeated.

"Yes. I just remembered a song with one of your names in it." he smiled warmly.

"One of my names?"

"Yes. Your middle name is Juliet, after all. Now just close your eyes and let your concerns melt away, my dear. And if you ever feel afraid again, remember that there are still heroes in this world." Ed whispered to her before starting;

 _A love struck Romeo, sings the streets a serenade_

 _Laying everybody low, with a love song that he made_

 _Finds a street light, steps out of the shade_

 _Says something like, "You and me babe, how about it?"_

 _Juliet says: Hey it's Romeo, you nearly gimme a heart attack_

 _He's underneath the window, she's singing, "Hey la, my boyfriend's back_

 _You shouldn't come around here, singing up to people like that"_

 _Anyway, what you gonna do about it?_

Nygma continued singing in a low-toned voice the verses one by one while Iris´s breath was becoming more and more calm and regular.

 _When you can fall for chains of silver, you can fall for chains of gold_

 _You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold_

 _You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin, yeah_

 _Now you just say, "Oh Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him"_

 _Juliet, when we made love you used to cry_

 _You said: I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die_

 _There's a place for us, you know the movie song_

 _When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?_

 _I can't do the talks, like they talk on the TV_

 _And I can't do a love song, like the way it's meant to me_

 _I can't do everything, but I'll do anything for you_

 _I can't do anything except be in love with you_

It was working as well as the 'veggie dice'. She was smiling and her eyes remained closed. Iris didn´t open them not even when Oswald came back with the 'magic spray' and went back to his side of the bed. With his hand, Ed asked for him to stay quiet.

 _And a love struck Romeo, sings the streets a serenade_

 _Laying everybody low, with a love song that he made_

 _Finds a convenient street light, steps out of the shade_

 _Says something like, "You and me babe, how about it?"_

 _You and me babe, how about it?_

He finished the song and his task. Iris could no longer be heard. She was in a peaceful sleeping mode. Then her parents covered her and could finally have some peace themselves.

"Dire straits? Not bad, Ed." Oswald chuckled.

"Even I am a fan of them, Os. And they have a song with her name in it, so..." he sighed.

"I know, I´m just surprised you solved this situation like this. Again thinking fast. You never ceases to amaze me with new parenting skills. You really are a genius." he confessed his thoughts.

"Well, you surprises me quite a lot too, Os. You know how much I believe in you." he gazed at his boyfriend. "I mean, just look what you did for this girl. You gave her a family, and you didn´t even like children!"

"I still can´t explain it myself. It just… Happened. I felt this bond with her when we first met. And after this time living as a family, it´s even stronger. It was one of the very few right decisions I made in my life, Ed." he was starting to feel emotional while having this little bed talk. "The other one was confessing to you."

"Ozzie… I can say the same thing. I have experienced all types of abuse one can imagine in this life, and it really changed me these past years after I met you. You know how I have transformed and what happened to some people because of it, of course. But… My wish to stay this happy with you and Iris forever is legitimate, Oswald. No amount of insanity can take this from me. I´m going to say again how much I love both of you, my two inevitable weaknesses." having the always perfect, neat and intellectual Edward Nygma opening up like that while in his 'bed state', in pj's, sleepy face and messy hair was too much for Oswald to take.

"That´s why I wonder if I deserve to feel this happy! Every time I do, something atrocious happens! Just like with mother and father! Now I love you and her, that brings me so much joy!" he snapped with a fearful tone.

"Well, I assure you that not this time, Os. I wasn´t there for you in those occasions, but I´m here now. And you do deserve happiness, you have worked for it. For Gotham. And for your family. You still do, Oswald. Also, remember that Iris chose you, chose us, actually, to be her parents. Not the other way. That´s why she was there for five years, it´s destiny." Ed caressed his cheek.

"You are right, Ed. If something shows up, both of us will take it down." he reassured himself.

"You bet, my little Penguin." Nygma nodded. "And let´s be fair, if you really want something to be worried about, just think that next year she will need to attend school and that she will meet other kids there. Boys included."

"What?!" he had not thought about such a subject until that moment so he was taken aback.

"Yes. Next year. Now good night, Ozzie." a teasing satisfied smile took over Ed´s mouth.

"Oh yeah? And guess what, chief of staff? Her birthday and the holidays are coming so it´s up to you to make all the preparations for the city Christmas party and for our first celebration as a family too! So, good luck and good night to you too, Eddie." he answered back in the same tone.

If only they knew how their words from before would stick with her for a long time, just like the song.


	5. Chapter 5: Double the Joy

**A/N: Sooooo, hi again guys! Hope everyone is having a nice holidays time! I know Christmas is tomorrow but since everyone is celebrating today, having a nice dinner with your families and all that, here is my little gift to you, dear shy and/or busy readers! Miss Rares loves you all the same way!**

 **As always, thanks AB for proofreading and reviewing, you are amazing sis :)**

 **Also, I must apologize for… Anachronisms you will find here since Gotham is set way before the movies I used and things like that. Also for the Nutcracker I used a different version from the original one as some of you may notice. Well, that´s it. Have a good reading!**

Chapter 5: Double the Joy

The usually gray city was unrecognizable with the arrival of the winter and with this the holidays season. Everything covered in white snow, green and red ornaments in every building, store and tree, colorful lights shining all night long, and even the pine tree smell in the air was strong, as if to announce the Christmas time. Everything perfectly made by professionals and planned to bring out the most cheerful spirits from Gotham´s citizens so the madness of the city could be forgotten at least this time of the year.

As requested by the mayor, Edward Nygma had planned ahead the 23rd, 24th and 25th of December in a row since they needed the three days as a family for the first time. As agreed upon with Iris, on her former birthday they would go out to choose a gift for her(she got a drawing kit and a pictures book), have a special dinner, cake and to get the things they would need for Christmas; on 24th it would be Gotham´s official party offered by the mayor as the tradition demanded, but for this one Iris was too young to attend yet, so they would spend the whole day together on the 25th.

To put the 23rd in a nutshell, the day when little miss Cobblepot-Nygma turned 8 years old, and therefore started another phase of her childhood development(which Edward was quick to explain in scientific detail to her and Oswald with no results), things got… Dramatic pretty fast, with Oswald literally crying over his little hummingbird growing up so swiftly and Ed steady in his belief that Iris´s choices (any kind of choice) would lead her to end up in Arkham just like them, which was his biggest fear. But by the end of the day, things ended up just fine for the loving royal family of Gotham´s underworld(even though the 'princess' had no idea of the existence of this 'world').

Needless to say that the 24th official Christmas party was a huge success. No resources were spared to create a majestic event to celebrate the special date that united the citizens so much until dawn. People in fancy gown and suits had a wonderful and well-planned time all together with the Heads of the city.

Then the long awaited 25th arrived. No doubt the most cautiously scheduled day of the three since Ed was making it for their dear daughter and it would be their very first holidays together, so it had to be absolutely special. That´s why right after breakfast they were going to the theater.

"Papa, why do we need to hurry?" Iris asked when a piece of french toast was practically shoved into her throat despite being in tiny pieces and in a fork, by Oswald.

"Because, my dearest hummingbird, we have a lot of things planned for today!" he responded in a cheerful tone.

"I never knew that you enjoyed Christmas this much, Os." Ed looked at him as if he had said the most illogical thing.

"Well, I didn´t before." Oswald confessed. "But don´t you think that this year I have a lot of reasons to be happy?" he blushed slightly. "Now the juice, nestling." he put the cup filled with orange juice with a swirly straw into her mouth. It´s not that his habit of feeding Iris like this didn´t annoyed Ed anymore but this was one of the days that he didn´t feel like arguing.

"And where are we going today?" the little girl questioned excitedly. It was her first holidays with a family after all.

"Oh, my sweet honeybee you will love it: we are going to watch 'the nutcracker'. A Christmas classic." Nygma told her without looking away from the newspaper.

"Wait a minute, Eddie. Isn´t that the one that in the end the heroine goes back home and all that?"

"Yes. And I know why you are asking." he interrupted. Edward knew that Oswald wanted Iris to see the most happy stories possible. "But as you must remember, there are a lot of alternative endings. And this version is a family-friendly play, so it will be merrier, I assure you."

"Of course." he agreed absent-mindlessly. "Come on now, Iris. I have got a special outfit just for today for you!"

For some unknown reason, this sentence made Nygma shiver. Soon he discovered why when the little one came back dressed in a kind of long caramel color wool dress adorned with red cotton balls, a pair of thick white pantyhose, brown snow boots, red and white striped gloves and the cherry on top: a headband with reindeer´s horns.

"FOR GOODNESS´S SAKE, OSWALD! WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS… THING?" he blurted out louder than he wanted to.

"Internet. It was on sale. Isn´t she an 'adowable' reindeer?" the mayor melted in a smile.

"Well, it could be worse. She could be Rudolph." Ed commented in a defeated tone. Luckily he had not seen Oswald hiding a rubber red nose behind his back.

"Yes. You are totally right! Now let´s get going!" he pushed them to the front door.

"Now for your own outfit… You are looking quite… Relaxed today." he analyzed how the mayor was not wearing his expensive suites but rather a plum colored sweater with black jeans, although not giving up on his social shoes.

"What can I say? I need to look like a normal parent, Ed. At least today." Cobblepot explained after giving it some thought. "And I can see that you are using the sweater I sent you when you were in Arkham." he teased.

"For this..." he fake-coughed. "It´s so cold today and it has so many memories in it… Anyway, let´s go before we are late." how was it possible for Oswald to still make him feel that embarrassed?

At the theater, the story of the young Marie in the Land of Sweets with the handsome prince that was a wooden Nutcracker before, fighting against the Mouse King and dancing along with the magical creatures kept Iris´s attention wholly on the stage. Her ice-blue round eyes shimmered with interest, with anxiety in the saddest parts, with emotion in the romantic ones and even teared by the end when the protagonists ended up together, differently from the original tale. Her parents thought it was definitely worth paying for the VIP tickets.

"So, did you like it, hon?" Ed asked despite knowing the answer.

"Yes, daddy! It was sooooo good! The Sugarplum Fairy was so beautiful and danced so well! The Land of Sweets looked so amazing! I was so happy when Marie ended up with the prince! And he was soooooooo handsome! I so want to find a prince like him too!" Iris answered more talkative and lively than ever.

"I´m glad you liked, honeybee. Now we have more Christmas activities to do." Nygma managed to say despite being surprised with this change in her normal behavior and way of talking.

"And you surely don´t need to worry about finding princes or whatever until you are way, way older, hummingbird." Oswald laughed nervously.

"Already becoming the overprotective parent, Os?" Ed smirked at him.

"Of course NOT!" he defended himself. "She… Just doesn´t need to think about this kind of thing yet."

"Come on, girls at her age have great interest in make-believe, fairy-tales, princes stories and so on. Totally expected for her to be this impressed after the play." he explained professionally.

"Yeah… And it´s not like it will happen anyway, right? There´s no one that is like a prince. We know it´s only a story for kids." Oswald laughed it off, despite saying it only when he was sure that Iris was far enough away from them.

After the theater, it was time for the thing that Iris Juliet liked the most to make with her daddy: baking cookies. Christmas cookies. Meanwhile the Penguin had another task related to the family day.

"Are you ready, honeybee?" Ed gave her a small apron.

"Yes, daddy!" she chirped.

"Then go get cinnamon, brown sugar and cocoa powder." he instructed. Gathering ingredients was her special talent in the kitchen.

"Coming!" despite tripping and letting some of it fall on the floor, the ingredients went in the bowl.

"Great. Now the flour."

"Okay!" to Ed´s dismay she came back with flowers in hand.

"Iris. I need the flour." he repeated.

"Yes!"

"You brought flowers."

"Yeah."

"I said flour."

"Yeah."

"I want flour powder." he tried again. Only to see her destroying the flowers with her tiny hands. "You know what? I will get it." Ed gave up.

Once the dough was beaten it was time to cut it in different shapes.

"Hon, see how I do it, okay? Choose one cookie cutter." Edward got the pine tree one. "And push it on the dough. Simple." he took the tree made of dough to show her. "Now it´s your turn."

"This one is cute!" Iris chose the star-shaped one. She cut several small stars with it.

"How about a bell? Or a snowman?" Ed suggested other cutters.

"The angel woman is better!" she got another one in the pile.

"Missy, do you want to end up jailed in that hell they call Arkham?!" he spilled it after thinking that perhaps she was getting too independent or too questioning.

"What is daddy talking about?" she tilted her head.

"Nothing, my dear. Forget it. I was just joking." then Ed remembered that she was just a little girl that still accepted being spoon-fed by Oswald.

"What is papa doing now?" she asked not caring about what had just happened.

"He went to choose the Christmas movies we are going to watch the rest of the day, hon. That´s why we are making cookies and hot cocoa."

"So I won´t need to eat that weird food?" Iris stated how she hated the holidays normal food.

"I will make an exception today because it´s our first Christmas together, but if it was up to me we would have the twelve Polish dishes." he sighed. It was going to be a not even a tiny bit healthy holiday. But someone had to give in, right? Usually it wasn´t the "wife".

The fun part continued when it was time for decorating the cookies. With sugar frosting of various colors and many kind of sparkling confetti, the sky was the limit. Iris spent a long time drawing on the cookies and narrowly adorning them with the best artistic abilities an 8 year old could have. She could help only with the marshmallows in the hot cocoa since she couldn´t deal with the stove. And she used a lot of them in the beverages.

"I believe we are done here. So, go change your clothes. Iris-deer." Ed joked pressing her fake horns.

"Why? This is still clean." she grumbled.

"Even if it was true, which it is not since you have frosting and powder everywhere, go put on your pj's."

"My… Pj's?" she repeated.

"Yes. And come to the main room." he finished.

Once she appeared there in her favorite winter midnight blue pj's. and fuzzy socks, Iris could see how well decorated for the holidays the place was. So many colors and lights that it was like having a part of the city inside the mansion. And she also saw Edward and Oswald in sleeping outfits as well.

"Papa? Daddy? Are we going to stay like this today?" she looked confused at them.

"Why not, hummingbird? What can be better for a family holiday than a movies marathon on the couch in our pj's and eating cookies?" Oswald looked proud as always in his robe while getting their daughter to sit in front of the TV.

"So, Os, what movies are we watching?" Ed sat down by Iris´s side.

"The first is one that fits hummingbird a lot: The Nightmare Before Christmas." he chuckled and pressed the button.

"Why papa think so?" she seemed offended.

"No reason, Gotham´s Gothic princess." he teased and poked her cheek. He sat by her other side.

Other movies included Home Alone, Polar Express, Elf, The Santa Clause, Scrooged and even Holiday Inn, in which Iris got glued to the song White Christmas. Among the cookies, it was obvious which ones Iris had decorated since some of them had rather Halloween-like designs despite the holidays shaped cut.

After what Ed called a "non-healthy day warming up together in front of the TV and the fireplace", it was time for the gift exchange.

"Me first!" Oswald exclaimed putting a box wrapped in red paper and a purple lace in front of Iris. "Open it, nestling!"

"Okay, papa!" excitedly she got rid of the packing to find a music box. Not a normal music box, but a porcelain one, very detailed, painted by hand, Nutcracker themed. "Wow! It´s from the play we watched!"

"Yes, dearest. See the dolls inside? It´s Marie and the prince. If you wind up this thing right in the back, they will dance." he explained proud of his choice. He knew that they were going to watch it so a themed gift would be perfect. Not wasting any minute, she did as he said and soon the two miniatures danced together in sync.

"Oh my, thanks papa! I love it!" Iris hugged Oswald tightly. She felt truly grateful.

"Now my gift won´t look good." Ed complained.

"Come on, daddy! Give me! I will love it too!" she promised.

"Well, I got for you, my precious honeybee, this." he passed to her a flat velvet blue box.

"Oh, what´s this?" she opened it to find a shining and gracious bracelet. It had black and pink gemstones in round and heart shapes with a dark green pendant shaped like a bird. "It´s so beautiful, daddy! Thank you!" she ran to him the same way she did with Oswald. Iris was thanking them not only for the gifts, which were wonderful, but for having them as a family to spend the Christmas with. The whole experience was wondrous, she was even starting to feel bubbly.

"You are welcome, sweetie." Ed kissed her forehead.

"Yes, this is only the first of many holidays we will have, hummingbird." Oswald did the same to her cheek.

"That´s why I´m so happy now!" she beamed.

"Now why don´t you get some papers and color pencils so we can write the Christmas cards?" the mayor suggested.

"Yes, papa!" she skipped away.

"Just don´t do what you did with the flour!" Ed shouted.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don´t ask, Os."

"Well, while our chick is upstairs, I can give you your gift." Oswald smiled handing Ed a silver colored box.

"Oswald, you didn´t need to!"

"But I wanted to. It´s also our first Christmas as a couple, Ed. It wasn´t that long ago since I called you to that date."

"Yes… I don´t even remember which wine I got or what I ate here." he laughed.

"But the dessert you sure do."

"What could taste sweeter than your love confession, Os? So of course I do." he leaned in to kiss the mayor.

"Not now." he stopped Nygma. "Open the gift first."

"A… Silver pocket watch. A beautifully made one too." he examined the object. "Thank you, Os!"

"Don´t thank me yet. Open it. And look at it really close."

"… If you eat it you die." Ed read the last part of the sentence. "Os… It´s the riddle I gave you when we first met."

"Yes. Merry Christmas, Eddie. Now you can remember that day forever." he smiled fondly.

"As if I could forget, my feathered lover." if Ed wasn´t careful he would end up crying. "I have a gift for you too, actually." Ed gave him a box similar to the one Iris received but taller. "Open it."

"It´s… A penguin made of black crystal?" he looked with admiration at the piece.

"Yes. Found in the same store. It will look terrific in your office, don´t you think?"

"Of course! Oh Ed, how I love you!" Oswald jumped on his chief of staff and kissed him as many times as he could.

"Easy there, Os. The mistletoe is on the other side of the room."

"Who needs that stupid plant anyway?"

"We won´t, tomorrow." he smiled mischievously.

"What will happen tomorrow?" Oswald gave him a suspicious look.

"Well, how about we sign _those_ papers you wanted so badly?"

"Oh my…You are not suggesting..." the mayor could feel his heartbeat increasing in anticipation.

"That we become legally married? I am. And after that we can go buy rings that fit your tastes. If you want to marry me, of course."

"Are you still asking? Of course I do, Edward Nygma! Then we will legally belong to each other only!" he whispered.

"Fine. Luckily both of us work at the city hall. And Merry Christmas, Os." he got Oswald for one more kiss.

"Merry Christmas, papa and daddy." a quieter voice whispered from the door.

What they failed to see was the Bee-hummingbird watching the whole development with the most fascinated look in her pale face. Oh, how magical and romantic a Christmas day could be!


	6. Chapter 6: Friendship

**A/N: Hi guys and girls! Happy New Year´s Eve everyone! Hope you enjoy this little sixty chapter here! We finally have our favorite detectives making a cameo and it´s also a story about birds and servants! As always I thank a lot AB-chan for helping me with this and for her reviews too! And people, feedback is always useful, so tell me what do u think of my work :) As always I only own the Ocs here. If I owned Gotham we would never have to deal with miss clone blank-face.**

Chapter 6: Friendship

How an 8 year old mind´s works: if it isn´t snowing, you can go out and play, even if your parents aren´t home. And that was exactly the case for Iris, with her papa and her daddy away in the city hall. Meaning that she was alone with the servants, but still she had to behave since she promised Ed that she wouldn´t give them a hard time. But going out for a stroll with one of them to look after her wasn´t a hard time, right?

"Steeeeeve!" she called as high toned as she could. "Steve, where are you?!" Iris waited for a response with no success.

"Miss Penguin Nygma. You want something?" it wasn´t the chamberlain. It was Olga, the way older and trusted servant of the house, that obviously wasn´t using her new capacity in the English language. Despite the fact that she still called her the wrong name.

"Not from you. And my name is Iris Cobblepot-Nygma." she pouted. It was frustrating for her to have the old lady that hated Ed answering the call meant for another person. "Where´s Steve?"

"The scraggy one? He is cleaning Mister Nygma´s library." she answered not bothered by Iris´s attitude.

"I see. In that case I´m going there." Iris decided.

"Mister Nygma does not want anybody in his particular library, little miss." Olga warned.

"Whose daddy is he?!" she defied.

"Fine. Have fun when he grounds you later."

"As if!" she shouted and went upstairs. "Let´s see what papa will say about it. Insolent old lady." Iris muttered to herself.

Iris really liked Ed´s library. The shelves were tall, made of shining red wood and full of all kind of books, in many different languages and knowledge areas, but her favorite ones were about animal life and botany. Recently it had also acquired a shelf with fairy tale books from every part of the world. Also, she kept her art supplies there. Like Olga had said, the chamberlain was dusting the science books and organizing them by alphabetical order.

"Hi, Steve!" she gave a huge, almost scary smile.

"H-Hi there, miss Cobblepot-Nygma..." the young man answered unsure of how to react. Steven Lagunov was an interesting fellow to know; he was half Russian, knowing perfectly how to speak both languages and also french, was not over 20 years old, had a normal height but a very thin frame; his hair had a grayish-blonde tone, his skin had a peach color and his eyes were dark green. His main dream was to study cello and somehow he had so many debts from student loans that he ended up working in Gotham as a servant in the mansion. His main issue was not being a people´s person so he had low tolerance to talks and such, which is why he liked working alone. The other issue was that he had become one of Iris´s favorites targets. And the Mayor would not accept any complaint about his princess.

"Oh, no need to be afraid of me, Steve. I was just thinking..." she looked around the room, pretending that she did not wanted anything special. "Perhaps you could take me to the park today?"

"The p-park? T-today? In this cold...Cold weather?" he stuttered. The resemblance the little girl shared with the couple of criminals had always given him the creeps. Her way of looking and talking left no doubt to him.

"Why not? It´s not snowing. A coat and snow boots will do just fine." she insisted.

"But miss… Why do you want to go there so badly today?"

"Because I want to draw the winter plants and watch the birds, of course. Today it won´t be crowded because everyone thinks it´s a cold day. So can you do it or not?" Iris responded and stared at him, not pleased with the waiting.

'Oh my God, she looks too much like Mister Penguin right now. And if I don´t take her, maybe he will kill me.' the chamberlain thought worried for his life. "Okay!" he blurted out. "I mean… Yes, I can take you there, miss. Just let me finish these books, please." he adjusted his tone.

"Fine. Since it does not take you longer than five minutes." she demanded and went to her room.

The outfit Iris chose could be described as a "Little Red Riding Hood cosplay" since it was a white blouse with buttons, a red long layered skirt, a brown waistcoat with two buckles in it and even a red cape to protect her hair and ears, paired with a red warm overcoat and black winter boots. Another of Oswald´s deals found through internet shopping. She got her sketch book, some pencils and was ready to go. Steve was waiting for her in front of the door in a black overcoat, just like his uniform.

"Ready to go, miss?"he was not enthusiastic about it but it still was a duty.

"Yes. Very much."

"Let´s get this straight: don´t go wandering on your own since I need to keep my eyes on you. Otherwise your parents will kill me. Or make someone else do it. And since the park is not far from here, let´s walk."

"Insolent number two." she murmured without him noticing.

Once they arrived in the biggest park in Gotham, things seemed like they would go well. Iris was quietly sitting on a cold bench doodling some winter jasmine and lilac daphnes flowers that bloomed beautifully during cold seasons. The youngster Lagunov really though that he could feel relieved and breath for a few minutes; this lasted until Iris spotted a bird flying to a way further tree. So she broke the "no wandering" rule to see it closer. She had to walk for some minutes but it was worth it in her child´s mind.

"Oooh, I know this one… It´s a black-throated blue warbler!" she could remember seeing it in Oswald´s book about small birds. It had bluish-black feathers, a white chest and a pitch black long stripe in it right in the throat, it´s eyes, legs and beak were also black. She wasn´t as interested in ornithology as he was, but since she liked any kind of wild animal, she had read a bit about birds as well. And she wanted to learn about hummingbirds too so Ed wouldn´t mock her with random trivia about her nickname anymore. She started drawing the black and white bird´s figure, when it suddenly fell off the tree. "Wow! Easy there, buddy! What happened?" she took it in her hands to look closely and the bird did not seem hurt, not in a visible way at least. But it´s breath was tired and his chirping was weak.

"If papa was here, he would know what to do!" she screamed in frustration. "Come on, are you hurt anywhere?" Iris touched the bird´s wings, and they seemed fine. "Steve will be useless, so it´s better if I think by myself. Or if I search for an adult."

Meanwhile there were other people at the same park:

"I can´t even believe you made me come to a park right in the middle of work!" a tall blonde man sighed and glared at an Irish man wearing a hat.

"I´m the captain for now, Jim. So if it was for work purposes I would be having some drinks right here. But since it´s only a park and it´s still daytime, coffee and donuts will do fine."

"And how exactly does this relate to our work, Harv?"

"It´s our break! You wouldn´t want an overworked captain at GCPD, would you?" he laughed. "Come on, Jim. You know how hard these last weeks have been. New criminals everywhere and we don´t even know what the former criminal mayor is up to. We deserve this. Eating outside is always better." Bullock gave the other detective a steaming cup of coffee.

"I still think we are wasting time here. There is literally nothing happening." he took a sip of his coffee. At least he could warm himself a bit while he was at it.

"Don´t be hasty. Let´s just wait and some matter will come to us. Like..." Harvey had spotted a walking red dot far away.

"Excuse me." after few minutes Iris arrived in front of two unknown men, since she knew nothing about Gotham´s police. And she was ready to be as polite as Ed was always instructing her to be when meeting new people.

"...Now." the older detective finished his sentence with a smile. Maybe the kid had an interesting case to give them or even some new clue about their current ones.

"Can we help you, little girl?" Jim asked her, thinking that she resembled someone he knew, despite not knowing who exactly.

"I don´t know. Can you?" she kept staring at them, holding the bird.

"Missy, we are from the police. Of course this is what we do. Besides, it was you who stopped here." Harvey was not willing to deal with a sassy kid.

"Hey, she is just a girl Harv. Go easy on her." he intervened before Iris could answer Bullock. "And what do you need, little one? Is that a bird?"

"Yes, that´s right. I was looking for help for him. It´s a warbler." she extended her hands to show the animal to him.

"I see. And is he hurt? That´s it?" the serious look on Jim´s face showed Iris that he was going to help her so she could trust him and Harvey, for this case at least.

"I don´t think so. His wings seem to be working and his legs too. Also I don´t see blood anywhere." she explained.

"Then what happened?" Harvey looked closely at the bird.

"I followed it and he fell. That´s all."

"Girl, wouldn´t it be better if you go to a vet rather than the police to solve this problem?" he suggested. Much to her wrath.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK I WAS LOOKING FOR COPS?! I HAVE A BIRD THAT NEEDS HELP FROM AN ADULT! ANY ADULT! IF YOU CAN´T HELP THEN I´M GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE!" she shouted. Iris couldn´t stand being treated as if she was stupid.

"Okay, let´s calm down here." Jim reprimanded the scene. "Now, what do you think this bird´s problem can be then, miss…?"

"Iris. That´s my name." she replied.

"Like the flower. Nice. It suits you." he commented.

"T-Thanks." for the first time in her life she stammered.

"And about the bird…?" he was waiting for her answer.

"Oh, right. Maybe he is hungry. He was alone there." how could she have forgotten to answer this first?

"That does make sense, actually. Perhaps he is weak. What does a warbler eat?" Jim wondered.

"Usually insects and small fruits, sir. But there were none on our way here." Iris looked dejected.

"Then we will need to find some." he determined with a confident smile.

"Will you really help me with this, sir…?" she hesitated, not knowing who they were yet.

"Sorry for not introducing ourselves earlier, miss Iris. I´m detective Jim Gordon and this is captain Harvey Bullock." he added.

"Right. Nice to meet you then." she finally smiled, ready to accept their help.

"Hey, you really look way nicer smiling, you know, sunshine?" Harvey tried to fix the little argument they had.

"Thanks, I guess." she tilted her head like every time she felt puzzled.

"Let´s get going. This little guy needs some food." the detective commanded.

Soon the three of them were walking while Iris kept the warbler inside her coat.

"Hey sunshine, did you come to the park by yourself?" the captain questioned since it was the police duty to keep the children safe.

"No. Steve brought me." she answered staring at the tired bird.

"And where is he?" he continued.

"Poor Steve worked so much today. I said he could rest on the benches while I was going to watch the birds." she lied.

"You _allowed_ him to do it? Like, he works for you?" Harvey was trying to understand the situation.

"He does. He is one of our chamberlains." Iris replied naturally.

"That´s just great, Jimmy. We are dealing with some rich little brat." he whispered sarcastically to the detective.

"No need to talk like this. Not every rich kid is bratty. Nothing in the world is all the same." the blonde pointed out in the same low-toned voice. "So, miss Iris. Where are your parents since they aren´t here with you?" he turned his attention to her.

"Papa and daddy are working, Mister Gordon. They work until evening."

"I see..." he fell silent thinking about what a different and still interesting household she had without the mother figure. "Also, cut the formalities, miss Iris. Call me Jim. It´s fine."

"Okay." she could feel a heat wanting to spread in her cheeks. "Then you can call me just Iris too."

"Is this how your parents call you?"

"Papa calls me hummingbird. Daddy calls me honeybee." she smiled warmly thinking about them.

"Sounds like they really love you."

"I love them too. They are my only family. Until some months ago I had none." Iris revealed with a sad expression.

"Then they adopted you. This shows how they love you even more!" Jim complemented.

"Yeah, you are a lucky girl, sunshine. Believe it." Harvey ruffled her hair, making her squeak just like the little kid she was.

"I know, but don´t mess my hair, captain!"

"If I can call you by your name, or rather, sunshine, you can call me Harvey." he laughed at her red face.

"Whatever." she crossed her arms, pouting. The exchange made the two usually distressed men chuckle and enjoy themselves a bit for a change. Perhaps the duo should help kids more often. It was way easier than dealing with people like the Mad Hatter, Jerome Valeska, the mafia bosses and everything in between.

"The little bird seems pretty at ease with you, Iris." Jim changed the subject.

"You think? I read in papa´s book that warblers are not human-friendly like ravens. They are small songbirds that live in forests and parks eating from the leaves. And this one is definitely an adult male."

"How do you know, sunshine?"

"It´s his colors. The female has olive-green feathers and the immature form of it has yellow undersides in the white chest and some green shades. But he is not as big as a full-grown adult." she explained.

"So maybe he just became an adult warbler? And that´s why he can´t find food by himself?" Jim expressed his thoughts.

"It´s possible. And what a smart sunshine, don´t you agree, Jimmy?" he patted her head to mock her. But the compliment was genuine.

"Yes, in fact. A smart cookie." Jim nodded. And the blushing won over Iris.

"C-Can´t we give him something now? Anything is fine!" she blurted out.

"Sorry but I don´t think we have any food here, unless..." Jim looked at Harvey who still had a small paper bag with him.

"No way, Jimmy. You can´t be thinking about giving my last doughnut to a bird!" he objected gripping on the bag.

"Not all of it, only a few pieces. Only until we find some insects or fruits." Jim insisted.

"But it´s a chocolate one! With sprinkles!"

"Harv." he warned. No more words were necessary to say that he should help Iris and the bird and not be childish with a treat.

"Fine. Sunshine, bring him here." Harvey gave up. When Iris took the bird out, the captain gave her the candy crumbs so she could feed the warbler. Much to the trio´s amazement, he started to stood up.

"Bird, you are feeling better!" Iris beamed. She received a happy chirp for a response.

"And there are some fruits here too, look." Jim spotted a bush with a few blueberries, getting some for the bird.

"Thanks, Jim!" she wore the sweetest smile while giving it to the warbler too.

"So, what are you going to do now that the case is solved, sunshine?"

"I don´t know. Maybe put him back on his tree." she thought for a while.

"If he wanted to go back, sunshine. Look at him." Harvey pointed at the bird that rested on Iris´s shoulder.

"He is pretty cute." she giggled. "I think I can take him home with me."

"In that case he will need a name." Jim stated.

"That´s true. Well, I´m thinking about… Cory." she smiled.

"It´s a name as small as he is. Cory, huh?" the detective tested the sound of it. The bird chirped loudly.

"The little guy liked it. Right, Cory?" Bullock tried and had the same reply from the warbler.

"It´s settled then." Iris decided, scratching the bird´s head.

Suddenly a fourth figure appeared, a man running towards them. He could barely breathe.

"Thank… Goodness… "he gasped.

"Hey, calm down, fellow. Breathe deeply and say what you want." Harvey talked to him.

"I… I finally found you. Now… I won´t be killed..."

"What is he talking about?" Jim asked the other two.

"It´s Steve." Iris answered as if it was no big deal.

"Now you come with me, miss Cobblepot-Nygma. Let´s go back to the mansion before your parents arrive." he took Iris´s hand.

"WHAT?!" the two cops screamed in surprise at the same time.

"Excuse me, young man… Did you just say..." Harvey coughed. "Cobblepot?"

"AND Nygma?" Jim completed.

"Yes. What´s with those faces?" the chamberlain thought everyone knew already about Iris´s origins."I´m talking about the now legally married Mayor and Chief of Staff. Miss Cobblepot-Nygma is their daughter. I´m surprised there are people who are not aware of it. Now if you two excuse me, I need to take her home or I may not live to see another day." he explained shortly.

"Wait, Steve! I need to thank them." she ordered.

"What for? Oh, what is this on your shoulder, little miss?" he saw the bird.

"It´s my new friend, Cory. And they are new friends too." she turned to them. "Thanks for today, Harvey and Jim. You guys really helped me and Cory." she bowed.

"I have never seen this girl being that polite." Steve mumbled.

"You are welcome, Iris." Jim replied despite the shock. Not about the relationship between Oswald and Ed that was obvious, but for discovering they had adopted a kid and that it was her. The adorable little girl they just befriended.

"Yeah. You can call us to help you anytime, sunshine. Your bird too." the captain tried his best to keep it natural.

"Okay! Bye!" she waved. But the way she was smiling at Jim was making him curious.

"Wait. Iris, what´s with that smiling face?" he gave up and asked.

"I was just remembering when I watched the Nutcracker with papa and daddy. You reminded me of the play." she explained.

"And why´s that?" for him it made no sense.

"No special reason. Now I gotta go!" she lied for the second time. But it was true that she was thinking about the play. Then she simply walked back home with the chamberlain.

"What just happened?" Gordon asked out loud.

"We just helped the daughter of two criminals. They may not be plotting anything lately because they are too busy with her, but you never know." Harvey pondered about the new information. "Who could guess, right? Those two with a kid?"

"Yeah..." he still seemed shocked despite knowing that a child has nothing to do with their parent´s activities.

"Well, I really liked her." he added. "Oh, and you two were getting along so well too, Jimmy." he mocked. "But look on the bright side!"

"Which one?"

"If things don´t work out with Lee, just like they already aren´t, you just need to wait for like, ten years! That and overcome her former criminal parents!" he laughed so hard that he even forgot what they were doing before helping Iris. But it was something important for a case, he was pretty sure. Too bad that Jim wasn´t amused.

When Iris arrived at home with her new feathered friend, she was in such good mood that she behaved well with all the servants (except Olga because of the earlier discussion, she was still holding the grudge) and spent the afternoon playing with Cory. Before she knew it, it was evening.

"Hummingbird!" Oswald found her in the main room.

"Hi, papa!" she hugged him.

"You look so happy today. Did you have a good day?"he observed a different mood in her.

"Yes! Despite the part where Olga was really mean to me, Steve took me to the park so I could draw a bit. And I saw winter flowers there and birds!" after she said it, Cory landed on her head.

"And you brought one of them home?" he raised an eyebrow. He was not sure of how to feel about it. He surely adored birds, but perhaps it was a bit too much to have a warbler in his home.

"More or less, papa. He came with me. He was alone and weak, and just became an adult warbler! He had no one, just like me before we met!" she reminded him. Seeing her talking like this about her orphan past gave Oswald a sad feeling for having questioned her. "So he chose me! Can I keep him, please? I even gave him a name already!" she begged.

"Really? What is his name?" he smiled softly.

"It´s Cory." the bird chirped happily after hearing her saying it.

"He seems to like it and to like you too, hummingbird." Oswald seemed lost in thought. "Okay, you can keep him." he agreed. "I´m sure I can convince your daddy to agree on it too. It´s fitting. A hummingbird owning a warbler."

"And where is he?" she finally noticed Ed´s absence.

"He went straight for the bath. But he will meet us at the dining table." Oswald would not tell her why Ed needed a bath before seeing her. Let´s just say he had blood to wash. "So what else did you do today? And don´t worry about Olga, hummingbird." he assured her.

"I made friends!" Iris chuckled with the brightest eyes the Penguin had ever seen on her.

"Like this little one?" he pointed out Cory, who was flying over them, following the two.

"Not only him. But two men from the police too." she talked innocently, not feeling the tension in Oswald´s hand holding her own.

"R-Really? It´s… Good to see you… Opening up to… Humans!" he tried to hide his anxiety. Why did it have to be from GCPD? It couldn´t get any worse.

"One was really funny, a captain named Harvey." it hit the Mayor badly. Now Bullock had a bridge to them. "And the other one really reminded me of the prince we saw in the Nutcracker, his name is Jim!"

'Tell me it´s not happening.' he thought. Not only had his precious daughter befriended Bullock and Gordon but also she had this blushing face and illuminated eyes when she mentioned her second human friend. Oswald knew that face too well. Because he used to wear the same one in that period that he found out his feelings for Ed not so long before. Her heart was warmed, he could see it. On top of that, a crush meant that she was growing up, so he felt the urge to cry again. And it persisted while they were waiting for Ed to have dinner.

"Found you two!" Ed arrived at the dining room only to find a smiling Iris, a depressed Oswald and a bird eating literally on the table, pecking over the served food. "What happened while I was away?" he asked carefully.

"Daddy! Hi!" Iris ran to him, receiving a hug.

"Our sweetie made friends today, Ed." the Mayor commented.

"Isn´t that a good thing? She needs to interact with more people, it helps to develop her brain!" Nygma found the lack of enthusiasm in Oswald´s voice mesmerizing.

"One of them is Jim Gordon." he revealed. Making Ed´s smile disappear.

"That´s right! He is a hero and could totally be a prince!" Iris told him without noticing that she was the only happy creature regarding this news. Despite Cory, of course.

"Permission to freak out?" Ed whispered to Oswald.

"After she goes to sleep."


	7. Chapter 7: Gotham's Sick Princess

**A/n: I´m going to be swift today: Thanks for the reviews, AB-chan(my amazing proofreader as always, no news here hehe), the new reader, the sweet ghostgirl, the anons and who read but was to shy to give feedback. Love to all of you. I want to apologize for the drabble-length but I´m in a moving out process this month so writing is not being easy. So I can´t promise weekly updates until February, I hope you guys and girls can forgive me. I will try my best to not let you down. Especially since Gotham is coming back this month and everyone will need to be medicated. So the next two chapters will be extra-special, okay? Pinkie-promise.**

Chapter 7: Gotham´s Sick Princess

Time to wake up. Oswald and Ed were going to have a busy day ahead, so they needed to get out of bed earlier than they usually did (earlier even than when Iris came into their room to jump on the bed between them while they were asleep most mornings), and that particular morning seemed to go smoothly. Perhaps _too_ smoothly.

"Ed?"

"Yes, Oswald?"

"Don´t you have the impression that something is missing?" he asked uneasy.

"Missing? Where?" he was too busy dressing up to look at his husband.

"Everywhere! It´s being too easy to get ready today. We woke up alone today too!" Oswald tried to explain.

"This should be a positive thing! We have a lot to do today. So, get ready, Mayor." Ed dismissed Oswald´s concern.

"Edward Nygma. I can´t believe that you think everything is fine! Do you even know where our _daughter_ is? Or have you forgotten about her?!" he was clearly not pleased that Edward had not noticed that Iris was not there first thing in the morning.

"Me? Are you serious?" he looked dumbfounded. "As if I could forget that we have a child, Oswald! Of course she is in her room, still sleeping, like a normal person!"

"But it´s not her 'normal', Ed. Maybe we should be worried." Oswald made a serious facial expression.

"Os, probably it was just another of her phases. Last month she would refuse to eat anything with the color red in it, and this one she was coming to our room every morning early to wake us up. Maybe she gave up on this too. Children her age do this kind of thing all the time." he explained to calm Oswald down.

"I don´t know. I´m going to check on her before we leave. She needs to get up for breakfast anyway."

"But today we don´t have time for breakfast, remember? We have meetings, openings, some charity work and underworld matters."

"Fine, but I´m still going there." he hissed. Nygma was an exceptional Chief of Staff, but the mayoral schedule shouldn´t receive any priority when there were hummingbird-related possible issues.

Before they could leave the room, a small black creature entered, flying over them.

"Isn´t that..." Cobblepot started.

"Iris´s warbler, the one she calls Cory? Yes." Ed recognized the agitated figure.

"Hi there, little guy. What do you want?" he would try to communicate with the bird. It just chirped numerous time, as if wanting to say something.

"Too bad we don´t speak 'birdnese' or whatever it´s called" Nygma mocked.

"Shut up Ed! Or I swear I will make myself a widow today! And after that I will go out at night with Barbara to search for some handsome, rich men!" Oswald threatened.

"Okay. Sorry. But it seems like the warbler wants us to follow him." he pointed out.

The warbler guided them directly to Iris´s room, where she was still in bed, laid down facing the wall and almost totally covered.

"Hummingbird?"

"Yeah?" she answered weakly.

"Are you alright?" Oswald asked worriedly.

"I don´t know..." Iris coughed and covered her head in the blankets.

"Oh no." Cobblepot felt his heart stop beating.

"What is it, Os?" Ed gave him a scared look.

"She. Is. Sick!" he screamed as if it was the arrival of the apocalypse.

"How can you be so sure?"

"See for yourself!"

Edward approached Iris, uncovered her and put his hand on her forehead. It was humid and hot, also her face had an unhealthy pallid tone.

"Oh my God! What are we going to do, Ed?! We can´t leave her like this! She is going to die!" Oswald panicked.

"What?! I´m going to die?!" Iris screamed between sneezes. She had no way of knowing that her papa was overreacting.

"No! Don´t listen to him, honeybee. I´m pretty sure you just have a cold." Ed calmed her down. "And now Os, let´s go to work and call a doctor to see her later. The servants can take care of our daughter until then."

"There´s no way I´m leaving her here and going to that office!" he decided with that stare that only "the Penguin" could give.

"You can´t miss work. Not today when our schedule is that busy." the Chief of Staff insisted.

"Ed. No. I know you will think of some excuse to explain our absence to everyone in your agenda for the day, but the right thing to do is to stay here. Even her bird called us." after he added that, Cory landed on Iris´s head and chirped proudly.

"He is a very smart bird." she cracked a smile.

"I know that. That´s why he chose to be your friend, hummingbird." he kissed her feverish forehead.

"Okay. Maybe if we can make her feel better quickly, then there will still be time for some of our activities." Nygma agreed on taking care of her with a few reservations.

"What a cold daddy I married." Oswald sighed mocking him.

"You may be a cute 'wife', Os, but you are also an eager papa." he joked in response.

"Okay. We can continue this later, but first let´s help our nestling. Perhaps she should eat something to recover her energy first?"

"I´m not hungry, papa. And my belly is feeling weird." her tone was a nauseated one.

"Then try to stay still, hon. We don´t want you to puke." Ed instructed. "If you can´t eat now, it´s fine. Let´s try to lower your temperature after we discover how high your fever is."

For Edward´s surprise it had reached 100.4ºF, which meant that they should watch it closely.

"That´s bad news. She can have a febrile seizure." he sighed worriedly.

"A what now?" Oswald blinked.

"Children with a high temperature may develop a febrile seizure, also known as a febrile fit or febrile convulsion, most of which are not serious and may be the result of an ear infection, gastroenteritis, or a respiratory virus, like a cold in her case. Less commonly, febrile seizures may be caused by something more serious, such a meningitis, a kidney infection or pneumonia. The seizure occurs because the body temperature rises too fast, rather than because it has been sustained for a long time. There are two types of febrile seizures-" the encyclopedic knowledge Ed had was only making Oswald more concerned so he cut in.

"Ed, that´s enough! I understood already! What can we do to avoid this?"

"Lower the temperature slowly. First let´s increase her liquid intake with cold water. Stay here with her while I get some." with this, he left the room.

"Have you been feeling sick since yesterday, hummingbird?"

"No, papa. I was fine when I went to sleep. I woke up like this." she coughed again.

"Oh dear, it may be because you were exposed to the cold weather in your strolls to the park." the Mayor sighed feeling guilty for not preventing this from happening.

"Sorry, papa. If I stayed inside I wouldn´t be sick, and you and daddy wouldn´t miss work." Iris mourned.

"No, Iris. It´s no one´s fault. You are a child, your health is not strong yet. If we have to, we will spend the whole day by your side. Anything to make you get better." Oswald assured her.

"My eyes are burning." she complained.

"Okay, I will lower the lights and get a wet towel to clean your eyes."

Once Ed got back, both of them resumed the care of their 'chick'. Her temperature was lowering little by little thanks to the water and her eyes were kept fresh with the towel just like her forehead, and Gertrude´s tea recipe for sore throat was helping with the pain and the coughing. The main problem was her refusing to eat because of her stomach.

"Hon, you really don´t want to try to eat anything?" Ed caressed her hair.

"I can´t, daddy. What if I puke?"

"Then it will be Olga´s problem. But that´s not the point, hon. Can you at least have a bit of jelly? So your stomach won´t be empty?"

"Fine." she agreed finally. "What´s the flavor?"

"Does this matter now?"

"No. Not really."

"Right." he smirked at her expression. "It´s strawberry." he gave her a small pot and a spoon.

"I will do it." Oswald took them.

"Again with the spoon-feeding, Os?" Nygma sighed tired of having the same conversation.

"I like doing it and she is too weak today!" he barked. "Now, hummingbird, let´s eat! And papa will give you anything you want!" his tone changed completely to a very sweet and cheerful one. When Iris opened her mouth to speak though, he interrupted her. "Anything. EXCEPT Jim Gordon." he added and saw her busted expression. Even so, she let Oswald feed her.

"Maybe later she will accept a proper meal. And before I forget, I already told Steve to feed the bird. Since he was with her when she got it, it´s his job now." Edward commented, happy with the progress in Iris´s health despite it not being perfect yet.

"Later, daddy..." she repeated without paying attention, before yawning. "I´m feeling sleepy again."

"Then we will let you rest, right, Os?" he glanced at the Mayor who was not willing to leave.

"Right..." Cobblepot answered reluctantly after a few seconds. "And knowing your daddy, Iris, I´m pretty sure he wants me to go to work now."

"You bet, my feathered lover. She will be fine. And if she really needs us, then one of the servants can call the office." Ed explained.

"Whatever." Oswald couldn´t feel as ready to work as Ed. "Hummingbird, stay in bed as much as you need, drink your water and you can eat whatever you feel like, okay? Just ask someone to prepare it. Get better to go out again so we can do a lot of fun stuff together." he hugged their beloved child.

"Yes, papa. Have a good day at work papa and daddy." she yawned again.

"Looks like even Cory came back to rest with you." Ed saw the bird lay down on Iris´s pillow.

"He is a good friend." she said before closing her eyes. Her parents didn´t need to know that she wanted to heal soon to go together with Cory to meet Harvey and Jim again, despite the fact that the afternoon in the park made her sick in the first place.

"She will be fine, right, Eddie? Gotham can´t lose its only princess." Oswald asked once more.

"Of course, Ozzie. She is our daughter, she is strong despite her age. She will recover in no time and will again be bossing us, the servants and soon the whole city around." he kissed Oswald´s cheek.

"Can I really eat anything I want later?" Iris opened her eyes again.

"Yes. Except for candies and soda!" it was Ed´s turn to turn her down.

"No Jim and no candies. You two are no fun!" she pouted, turned to her left side and closed her eyes again.


	8. Chapter 8: Family Portrait

**A/N: Here comes an apologetic Rares to her readers. Oh guys and gals, I have been feeling like I´m letting you down lately like I said last time, and the worst part is that last week I couldn´t even post a chapter! My dearest proofreader AB(thanks as always BTW) knows how turbulent life has been and will be until next month to me but I promise to do my best. I´m aware of how much everyone needs a dose of this medicine after this last episode with snaking-Ed. BUT I want to say that reading this notes you just entered MY candy-made world. You are safe here. There´s no blank clone, no bugs and no reptiles hiding or in sight. There´s just a happy family and their interactions between themselves and with other characters that are totally fine with them, and some good old child-sassness and a real bird.**

 **BUUUUT I have a SECRET: for the last weeks I have been preparing a surprise for you! That will amend my absence I hope. A surprise that is the real reason for this chapter´s existence. I won´t spoil it, so relax, read it and after this go to the ending A/N. See ya there :)**

Chapter 8: Family Portrait

It was a peaceful afternoon at the Cobblepot-Nygma household. Iris was inside her room playing with her bird-buddy Cory. The song in her Nutcracker music box had been playing for several minutes already, making it obvious how much she had loved the Christmas gift her papa gave her. She gripped on the purple bat, her favorite toy from the pile of stuffed animals, and put it to "fight" against the blue warbler, with the living creature playing along and both of them having their fair amount of fun.

Right after, it was time for the usual tea party, Iris´s favorite type of play. Setting the small wood table with a black and white checkered tablecloth, the dark porcelain tea set, the hot water, milk, sugar and the cherry pie the servants had made for her earlier, Iris had Cory sit on the other side of the table, surrounded by her dolls. She served him a slice and put a small cup with tea and milk in front of him.

"Don´t let Pere Noel scare you, Cory. She is harmless." Iris pointed out a pallid doll dressed in a white shimmering ballerina costume. She had very short silver hair, huge black eyes and an unsettling air about her. "Too bad I can´t say anything for the Lunatic Queen." she laughed. "Eat your pie." she encouraged him. The warbler pecked on the red cream inside the dough and chirped approvingly.

"I´m glad you like it! Can birds drink tea?" she peered at him quizzically. "Well, you should try at least. This one is made of flowers! Also, after this I can try to draw you again!" she smiled. Iris was enjoying things far more with an animal companion by her side. Cory chirped two more times, as if agreeing.

"Oh, I know! I will get some ice cream to eat with the pie! I just hope daddy isn´t home. He is always saying that I eat so much sugar that I 'offe' end up ruining the furniture, whatever it is." she tried to imitate Ed´s exact words, failing at the "often". "But, so what? Papa let´s me have ice cream for dinner! Anyway, wait for me here, alright, Cory?" for her amusement, the bird nodded. "This reminds me, you need to try daddy´s cookies someday, they are the best, I loooove them! Next time you can bake with us!" Iris added before making her exit.

Meanwhile, in the main room her parents were having a very important adult talk:

"Before getting married to you I didn´t even know there was a wrong way to put the milk back in the fridge!"

"But there is one, Ed! You always put it backwards. Do you know how confusing this is when I need it to put in Iris´s cereal?" Oswald insisted. This argument had been going on for a while.

"So I take it as God made ten Commandments for the whole of humanity, while you made hundreds only for our house?"

"Someone needs to be the wife, right? And it´s not as easy as it seems! I´m always the one responsible for grocery shopping, the servants payment, Iris´s daily activities, the last one to go to bed and you know what my role means when we make love." he pointed out this last part.

"Right." Ed coughed. "I get it. Too bad you have no Commandments when the subject is our daughter." he changed the topic.

"Oh, grow up Ed."

"Excuse me, I´m pretty sure I said this to you yesterday. So, that´s my line."

"And I´m pretty sure I didn´t answer it."

"That´s why you couldn´t talk with 48 gummy bears stuffed inside your mouth! While Iris had 25 in hers!"

"Are you still talking about it? This was so long ago." he sighed bored.

"This is getting us nowhere. Anyway, where is our precious child?"

"Probably in her room with that bird." Oswald examined his nails absentmindedly.

"Oswald." Nygma called in a warning tone.

"What now?"

"Don´t you remember what is scheduled for today?"

"For...Today?" he repeated.

"The reason why we are at home right now?" he tried again.

"Ooohhh..." the Mayor realized after some silent instants. "That artist is coming here today to paint my portrait to put in the city hall gallery!"

"Correct, my dearest 'wife'." Ed mocked. "And if I know you well enough, you will want Iris in it, as well as me."

"Of course I will! You are my husband, she is our daughter and we are Gotham´s royalty! Our image needs to be preserved for the next generations to see!" Oswald explained naturally.

"I don´t know if any Mayor before you has done this, Os. If you look at the gallery, it´s full of single portraits of them."

"So what? I can be the first one then and start a new trend! This will also be part of my legacy!" he decided with a hint of excitement in his arctic blue eyes.

"Fine by me, the problem is with the little bee-hummingbird." Ed added.

"How can you say this?!"

"Come on, Oswald. Let´s be serious here. Do you really expect her to sit still and keep herself clean and quiet for all the time it will take?"

"Why not? She is eight, not five."

"The difference in patience between the two ages is not that big, my feathered lover."

"Well, I know that with your intellect you will have no issues negotiating with her, right?"

"Do you really expect me to bribe our daughter into behaving to get the portrait done?" he asked dumbfounded.

"Why not? There must be something she wants. Like, a day free of bedtime, or another doll or even something like..." he tried to remember anything else.

"Like a trip to GCPD?" Ed completed the sentence with a smirk, seeing the hatred in Oswald´s expression. "I was just kidding. But bribing is not my parenting style."

"So what do you suggest? That I go talk to her?"

"Actually, that could work." he agreed without getting the sarcasm.

"Fine, I will. If the artist arrives, open the door." with the help of his cane he walked toward Iris´s room. But when he knocked on the door no one answered. "Hummingbird, are you there?" he entered, seeing only the blue warbler. He looked around to see if she was playing hide-and-seek or something similar, when a voice from behind took him by surprise and made him scream.

"Yes, papa."

"Iris! Do you want me to have a heart attack?! Are you learning how to lurk with Ed?!" he questioned with a hand in his chest.

"Sorry, papa. I was in the kitchen." she looked apologetic.

"What for?"

"Getting ice cream. Do you want some too? Cory and I are having cherry pie and tea."

"Maybe later, hummingbird. If I can ask this, could you eat faster, change your clothes and come to the main room?"

"Why? Are we going out today?" she asked going back to her tea table.

"No. Even better. We are going to have a family portrait painted today!" he spoke cheerfully.

"What is that?" she tilted her head.

"Well, it means that someone will draw us just like you do with plants and animals, and then paint it. But in a canvas instead of a sketch book."

"And what do I need to do?" she served a scoop of ice cream on the top of Cory´s slice of pie.

"Just put on a pretty dress, sit quietly and wait."

"For how long?" she sighed, already foreseeing how bored she would get.

"Not much!" he lied.

"Papa, do I really need to?" she whined.

"Iris, think about this… A portrait is like a photograph that lasts forever! Because it´s painted it will be in Gotham´s history until the city ceases to exist. And everyone that enters the city hall will see it along the other Mayors portraits! Your daddy and I are the Kings of this city, and you are its Princess! Everyone will know this!" despite his almost maniacal joy in this, it was not convincing Iris that it was a nice thing. So he would need to think about something else. "You know what? Wait here, hummingbird." he left for a few minutes. When Oswald came back, he was holding a thick photo album with a leather cover.

"What do you have there, papa?" Iris looked with interest.

"It´s something I have been wanting to show you for a while, my dear. It was from my mother." he opened the album while Iris sat by his side to see it. "Here. This was your grandma Gertrude when she was your age." Oswald indicated a photograph of a beautiful girl with long, light curly hair. He skipped some pages until finding a photo of her with Elijah. "Right here, it´s her and your grandfather Elijah when they had just started dating. He made this dress for her." usually he got too emotional talking about his parents, but this time it was in a good way, as if he was introducing his daughter to them.

"It´s so pretty… And his clothes too. He looks like you, papa." she commented.

"No wonder I´m his son, right?" he laughed dismissing the urge to cry remembering their story.

"And grandma looks happy here too." she touched the photo. "Like you with daddy!"

"And you want to know why, hummingbird?" he asked and she nodded. "That´s why she taught me that every person has only one true love in life. And that when you find it you need to run to it and never let go. For her it was my father, and for me it´s Ed." he gave her a small kiss on the nose.

"Will it be like this for me too, papa?" she asked with shimmering eyes.

"Of course. It´s the truth. But don´t rush, okay?" Oswald answered despite knowing why she had asked.

"Who else is in this album?" Iris questioned.

"Why don´t we find out together?" he smiled while they passed through the pages with photos of Oswald´s parents and their relatives(most of Gertrude´s side given what happened before his birth), despite the biggest part of them being unknown even for the Mayor. The girl was simply fascinated seeing a small part of her papa´s past and finally knowing something about her grandparents besides that they were in heaven like Ed told her.

"Do you think they would like me?" she asked out of the blue.

"Why are you asking this now?" he was surprised by her question.

"Because now I can ask since I know how they were. Until today I knew nothing about them."

"Firstly I´m sorry for leaving you in the dark about my parents for so long, hummingbird. It´s just a difficult topic because..."

"I know. Daddy told me bad people did something mean to them." she smiled sadly.

"Yeah..." he was taken by surprise that Ed had told her. "But for your question, of course they would love you, dear. You would bring them as much pride and joy as you do for Ed and for me." Oswald assured her with a smile. "Actually, I´m sure they are watching over us, so they can see you too. And they know what a wonderful girl you are. And they surely are very happy in heaven while seeing our family." at that moment he could feel what he was saying.

"And why did you show me this today, papa?"

"Well, because I felt like it, and because I wanted you to see why it would be good to make a permanent register of your image as it is today. Don´t you want to leave it here in Gotham just like these photos we saw? Your grandparents would like it a lot too, I´m sure." the Mayor exposed his thoughts.

"Okay. I will do it." she decided.

"Terrific! Now let´s put you in the bath and choose a nice dress!"

"Can I at least bring a toy with me?"

"Fine. But toss it aside when the artist starts drawing you."

"What about Cory?"

"Iris, dear, a bird can´t be in a portrait. Can´t he wait here?"

"I don´t know. Can you, Cory?" she asked him. The bird chirped and ate a bite of ice cream.

"Let´s take that as a 'yes'. And this meal of his will give Steve a lot of trouble tomorrow." Oswald commented guiding Iris into the bathroom with some outfit options in his arm.

Especially because bathing Iris was easy, making her put on a dress that wouldn´t scare Ed was the hard part.

"How about this one?" Oswald presented her a powder blue dress that looked like a Disney movie rip off.

"No!" she said disgusted.

"Okay. Who the hell bought you this anyway?" he threw it on the floor. "This?" he got a purple sparkling one. This one had been his idea.

"Not today!"

"This?" he showed a dark blue one with black laces.

"Nope."

"Then this?" He got a fancy red one.

"Nah."

"This." he took a dark green with flowers on it. She just glared at him.

"Come on, there must be something here that you will wear!" he was almost giving up. Looking some more to find something publicly acceptable and that still fitted her tastes, Oswald found a last try: a black dress with frilly white layers and black laces. It also had a short cape. "Then this."

"Yeah, I guess I can try this one." Iris finally accepted.

"And it comes with a headband too! So let´s groom your hair." he took a hairbrush, a hairdryer and spray. Of course he had to get ready too but he already knew what he was going to wear.

About one hour later, they were finally prepared for the portrait. When they entered the main room, Ed was on the couch talking to a middle-aged man with Italian accent and appearance.

"Os, honeybee! There you are! The artist has been here for forty minutes already. Hope nothing else is missing."

"No, Ed. We are more than ready, right hummingbird?" Oswald took her hand.

"Yes, papa." she smiled.

"And I sure hope Iris won´t appear in the portrait with this purple bat." Nygma warned her.

"No, daddy. I promise." she sighed. Why did Ed have to be so strict?

"Mister Mayor, Mister Nygma and little miss, could you sit on the couch please?" the man asked. "It´s better if Mister Nygma stays in the left side."

"Like this?" Oswald asked after they took their places.

"Yes, Mister Mayor. It´s very good. The light will help a lot."

"Any particular position since it´s for the city hall?" Ed questioned.

"Please, Mister Nygma. I don´t work with forged feelings. Since you told me about the Mayors´s idea of making it a family´s portrait I was thinking it should be… Expressive of what the three really are as a family. Can you imagine how it will be for people in the future to see that Mayor Cobblepot cared that much for his family? Just sit there to let me watch you and sketch but act naturally. Feel free to show your dynamics to the canvas."

"Just so you know, I will want another one to put here in the mansion." Oswald told him.

"Certainly, Mister Mayor. It will be a fantastic portrait for sure." he assured.

"Just don´t forget to capture all the nobility of Gotham´s royalty in it."

The one thing that would be immortalized in that gallery as well as in the mansion´s wall was Eddie and Ozzie´s love for their daughter as well as for each other. But Iris was without a doubt Oswald´s joy and Ed´s pride.

 **A/N2: Here what I wanted to show you people. The result for this portrait can be seen in DeviantArt, just go look for yohime-angel(me!) since the site did not allowed me to post in the chapter. But go there, it´s REALLY worth it!**

 **And if u guessed right...**

 **Yes. I had a comission made of them! So you could see how Iris is and what a wonderful family they are! Hope you liked! Love aaaaaall of you! Even the ones I don´t know about! See ya next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9: Jim's Day Off

**A/N: Hello my beloved readers! Do u liked the portrait last week? I´m aware of how tense this last week´s episode was and how worse will this next one be, and again we will have a hiatus...only to torture the shippers a bit more, no? With this in mind, I couldn´t disappoint you and had to update, or rather, produce medicine, this week. I know how everyone needs this. This theme wasn´t what I had planned originally for today but it was on my list and it came out in the random numbers generator when I had to pick one and it was approved by my dearest proofreader Aurora Borealia (thank you for your quick work sis, really) hehe, soo I hope this makes a strong dose for you stay strong until monday :) I put all the love I could here. Enjoy!**

Chapter 9: Jim´s Day Off

"Okay, Cory! Nothing can stop us today!" Iris smiled brightly getting her blue coat from the closet. Her usually quiet voice sounded determinated and cheerful.

Despite the winter still being on with its cold winds, there were no signs of snow or clouds, so it was a perfect day to go out and play with the blue warbler. His presence had made it way easier for her to cope with Ed and Oswald´s hours of absence. But she would go out without servants this time, since according to Iris, Steve was of no help last time anyway. And by the age of 8, she was pretty sure that many kids went wandering around the city by themselves without any issue. At least since her papa as the mayor had promised to make Gotham a clean and safe place. And she trusted him and his words wholeheartedly.

'Armed' with a simple long sleeved black dress, a navy blue coat, her trademark black pantyhose, blue boots, black earmuffs with ribbons and her equally blackish-blue bird friend, she left without a single worry.

"So, what do we do first? Buy some candy? Papa gave me money and taught me how to use it! But he said daddy can´t know about it!" she chuckled. Iris had no idea, but Ed had a pretty clear rule about pocket money and the appropriate age to start dealing with finances: only after 10 according to his books.

"Go to a museum? To the park where we met? Oh I know! The playground! We can play there! I´m not feeling like drawing today." it was true. Since the family portrait, despite Iris being bored by times while the artist was sketching it and trying to get up to get the plush bat back and having started yawning, went out fine, she had been thinking a lot about that photograph album Oswald showed her and about her grandparents. She wanted to play in a way that left her hands as free as her mind to meditate. With this decision made, they walked out happily.

Not far from there, in the police station, there were people in a totally different state of mind:

"That´s enough Jim! As your captain I´m giving you an order. Take a day off!"

"Why should I, Harv?" he sighed heavily.

"Because anyone here can see that you can´t work if you keep thinking about Lee´s engagement!"

"And if I go out will it change anything at all?" Gordon scoffed at the suggestion.

"Maybe not, but a few hours away will make you chill. This or you can go out to buy me coffee and donuts, Jimmy." Harvey ended up mocking him.

"I will take that day off if these are the options." he stood up to leave.

"Who knows? Maybe you will have a better day out there. Just remember: keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow! And see ya tomorrow." Harvey sent him off with a brotherly smile.

'The sunshine, huh? Wish it was that easy to find it.' James thought bitterly while walking to nowhere in particular. Shadows were a thing that he was seeing a lot lately in his life, both professional and personal. Nothing seemed to go the right way. What good would a day off do for him? It would be only another opportunity to find new lunatics running around committing crimes while he would be without a gun. Just great. If only he could have days as easy as the one when he and Harvey met…

"Hi Jim!"

"Iris?" he blinked several times to confirm that he was in fact seeing his little friend walking by herself right there.

"Yup, that´s me!" she giggled. Her day was already becoming good. "What are you doing here?"

"It seems like I have a day off from work today, kid."

"A what?" it was another word that she had never heard of.

"It means that I got out of work earlier today." he explained at the sight of her puzzled face.

"Oh, right. I wish papa and daddy did this too."

"You are referring to Mayor Cobblepot and the Chief of Staff Nygma, right?" Jim remembered her origins.

"Yes. We have little time together on weekdays." Iris lost the smile commenting on it.

"Iris, you know they work hard for this city. And I´m sure for you too. They would stay at home with you more if they could, I know it." despite not trusting Ed and Oswald, the detective wanted to cheer up the girl. Seeing that it wasn´t working so well, Gordon decided to change topics. "Anyway, where are you going?"

"Cory and I are heading to the playground! But..." Iris blushed in embarrassment. "We don´t know which directions to follow." she admitted to being lost.

"Is that so?" Jim couldn´t help but laugh. "Well, why don´t I take you two there then?" he offered. Jim had literally no idea of what to do with his free hours and Iris appeared when he was thinking about the day they met, maybe it was a good sign.

"Ooh, would you do that for me? I mean, for us?" she corrected herself and gave him the most adorable smile.

"Of course, we are the best friends ever, right?" he jokingly winked at her, receiving a 'blushing nod face' in response.

What the three of them did not know at the time was that a similar conversation was happening at the city hall:

"Ed?"

"Yes, Os? Do you need more coffee? Why don´t you call your assistant for it? I´m busy here reading contracts you know." Nygma was precipitated in his answer.

"What? No! I don´t want any stupid coffee! And stop reading this and look at me when I talk to you!" he demanded.

"What´s with this tone, Oswald? Is something wrong?"

"Firstly, we may be married, but here I´m still your boss. I´m the boss of everyone in this city! So, look at me." Oswald talked like Iris when they first met. "And secondly," he continued after getting Ed´s full attention. "I´m feeling bad." he completed.

"Bad for what, may I ask?" it was Ed´s job to make sure that the Mayor had everything he needed to work better, besides, he was his husband so his personal issues mattered to him.

"Bee-hummingbird." he said simply.

"What about her?" Ed wasn´t sure of what point Cobblepot was trying to make.

"It´s true we have only been a family for some months now, but I think we should spend more time together on weekdays, Ed."

"Os, we are working. And you are the Mayor!" Ed reminded him.

"I know! I´m not requesting a lazy schedule or anything, I just..." Oswald sighed. "Miss her in times like, now. What must she be doing?"

"Probably at home with the servants if she is an obedient child." then Nygma saw the problem with this sentence. The 'if'. "Oh no. Maybe it´s better if we go check on her."

"Yeah. We can come back in one hour or less." he agreed. "Ed, go get the car."

And back to the trio formed by a man, a little girl and a blue warbler:

"Can we get some ice cream on the way?" Iris pulled the sleeve of Jim´s coat.

"You know it´s freezing today, don´t you? Also, I don´t think your parents would be very pleased if you get a cold because of this. So I´m sorry, but I have to say no." in fact, it was 40 degrees out there, not that Iris cared for temperatures.

"You are no fun. Just like daddy." she crossed her arms and Cory chirped in protest.

"Someday you will understand why adults have to spoil the fun sometimes." he patted her head, only to have his hand pecked by the warbler. "Ouch! Possessive bird." James complained.

"Cory is my friend too." she giggled. "Okay, no ice cream… Then a soda?"

"Equally cold."

"Tea?"

"Will take us too long to finish."

"Hot chocolate?"

"Alright." he finally said yes. "That we can get. And we won´t be out of our route too. Stay by my side, Iris." Gordon warned her. If he let her get lost, it would create a huge problem with the Penguin and Nygma. And there was a small cafe a few blocks away.

"More marshmallow cream!" Iris exclaimed cheerfully pouring the sticky sweet cream into her cup. The sight was making the detective feel sick.

"Iris, don´t you think that´s enough?"

"I like it this way." she justified and finally released the bottle of cream. "But isn´t this thing you are drinking too sour?"

"Do you mean the macchiato? It´s another thing that you will learn to appreciate when you grow up. Coffee. And no sugar added." he took a long sip, sighing, feeling like he could finally relax. "Do you want to eat something, Iris?"

"Not now. I want to play first." she gave some marshmallow to Cory.

"Well, you are lucky then, the playground is very near here." Gordon smiled genuinely at her.

"Let´s go now then!" Iris stood up and was ready to run by herself.

"Don´t even think about it. Last time you abandoned that Steve guy." Jim did the only smart thing and took her hand to guide her, much to the girl´s silent surprise. "New rule, today you walk with me." he had more than one reason to make sure of her safety after all, since she was no ordinary child.

"O-Okay..." she timidly answered while they exited the store.

"Oh. My. Gawd." Oswald held his breath. He and Ed were inside the car, they parked as soon as they saw Iris in the street. The Mayor was more pale than his usual. "Ed… Tell me I´m not seeing this."

"If you think you saw James Gordon with our daughter, then I can´t lie. It´s reality." Nygma was as distressed as Oswald, but trying to hide it. It was so disturbing to them the sight of the detective with the lissome figure of their precious treasure, and still gripping her hand… It was enough for him to deserve a bullet.

"That… THAT BASTARD! WHAT DOES HE THINK HE IS DOING?!" Cobblepot suddenly raised his voice. "Is this a weird comeback to get to us?! Using our daughter?! This is so LOW!"

"Oswald, calm down. Let´s try to be rational here. Why would Gordon do it like this? He is one of the good guys… And it would be a very complicated revenge plan." Ed tried convincing Oswald and especially himself.

"I don´t know. But he must be up to something. Get out of here and let´s follow them!" he growled.

And so they did. From a good distance, both walked behind the trio up to the playground, and once there, they hid to see how far 'Gordon´s plan' would go.

"Stay on my head, Cory!" Iris instructed sitting in a swing. "Ready?" the bird nodded. She started moving, but her face made it clear that it wasn´t going high or fast enough in her opinion.

"Want me to push you?" Jim chuckled at her adorable frustrated expression.

"Yeah...If you want to..." she had no idea of how to respond. Everything was too embarrassing to someone her age already.

"As you wish. As long as the bird doesn´t attack me." he stood behind the swing.

"He won´t. Right, Cory?" she asked and the bird chirped twice, nodding. "See?"

"Wow. He is very smart. Now here we go!" because she was small and light it was easy to push her in a swing. And seeing her smiling while enjoying it was making the detective enjoy himself too. Why couldn´t everything be as easy as that? Adulthood had so many hardships and the people were so complicated. When did everyone forgot how to be sincere and to smile like children?

"Were you sad earlier?" Iris asked out of the blue.

"What? Where did that come from?"

"You just… Looked sad when Cory and I met you."

"Well, aren´t you observant? A smart cookie just like I said last time..." he sighed tired, not wanting to talk about his problems with a child. "It´s grown-up problems, nothing you need to worry about."

"Papa had the same look when talking about his parents."

"Ed, now do you think he is going too far?! A swing? Really?!"

"Be quiet, Os. I can´t hear what they are talking about!"

"So you know about Mayor Cobblepot´s parents?"

"Yes, my grandparents actually. I´m from the family now, remember?" she smiled sadly.

"Of course. Sorry. I´t just not fair that someone so young has to know about bad things that happen in this cruel world." Jim voiced his concern.

"It´s not the first time. I came from an orphanage, so I know that I had parents that passed away before. I just don´t remember them or what happened. But it´s fine. My papa and my daddy are everything to me." Iris did her best to put on a happy expression. She was speaking the truth, and it was her turn to cheer up Gordon.

"You know what? Don´t change this ever. Don´t let the reality when you grow up take this love you have for your family now, and definitely don´t lose this precious smile ever." at this point Jim understood what Harvey meant when he said for him to keep his face to the sunshine.

"I will try my best!" Iris promised. "Come here too!" she asked.

"Iris, please. I´m too tall and too old for the swing. My place is here pushing you."

"Aw, at least climb here a bit… You have to try this sensation. The wind is so good today!" she begged.

"Fine, just a bit." he jumped on the swing Iris was on and stood there moving it, rocking together with her. It was indeed a good feeling, good enough to make him want to erase the previous issues of his mind and live that present moment. That girl was without a doubt special.

"Hey Jim, let´s make a promise?" Iris questioned with her face slightly red.

"What for?" James looked at her still moving below his field of vision.

"Next time you feel sad, let´s come back here and play until you feel better." she proposed.

"Of course. I would love to." her purity and willingness to help were the best things ever.

"THAT´S IT! YOU ARE SO DEAD, GORDON!" Oswald left his hidden spot.

"STAY AWAY FROM OUR DAUGHTER!" Ed completed. Usually he wouldn´t shout, but this was too much for him to watch and bear.

"Papa? Daddy?" Iris wasn´t sure if she was happy to see them, given how wrathful they were.

"What´s the problem with you two?" Jim stopped the swing, got down and stopped in front of her parents. "What are you talking about?"

"If...If this is some revenge plan, don´t involve our hummingbird in this!"

"Revenge plan? Why? Are you guys plotting something lately that I should know?" he smirked.

"What? No! Us? Never!" Oswald laughed nervously. "Isn´t that hilarious, Ed?"

"Never mind." Ed sighed, not willing to discuss plots or the lack of them any further. "Gordon, she is our only child, we love her dearly and we won´t tolerate anything happening to her, especially because of you." Nygma said seriously.

"I don´t know why you are saying this to me, but I understand. And she loves you guys a lot too, you should know this." he added. "And she really looks like the Penguin with a bit of you, Nygma. Amazing. But you two need to chill out, we are just having fun here!"

"It won´t be fun when I send Victor after you!" Oswald wouldn´t calm down.

"Easy there, I was just being legitimately nice, okay? She and I are friends for real. And that blue bird too." Jim tried again.

"I will let you go this time." the Mayor completed.

"I was right about finding lunatics in my day off." the detective said to himself.

"So, honeybee, before going back to work papa and daddy can drop you at home, how does this sound?" Ed beamed at her as if nothing had happened. Nothing that she had understood at least.

"Aww, come on daddy! Let me play here with Jim a bit more! And I can walk home with him too! It´s still early!" she exposed her arguments with puppy eyes.

"Fine… Only this time." Nygma was sure that he was being too soft with her but couldn´t help it. "Os, let´s go back. See you at home, sweetie." he kissed her cheek.

"Leave her home before sunset. Do you understand me?" Oswald hissed at Gordon.

"Sure, Mister Mayor." he mocked, receiving a steady glare from Cobblepot before they left.

"I don´t know what just happened but… What do we do now?" Iris questioned while trying to fix her hair that became a mess thanks to Cory and to the wind.

"How does the slide sound to you?"

James Gordon was pretty sure that Harvey was right when he called that cute creature a sunshine. Despite her size and age she could send shadows away for anyone that befriended her.


	10. Chapter 10: Cinderella(TPAH version)

**A/N: Hi readers and fans! What a heartbreaking episode this 3x14 was, no? Reason why I couldn´t let you guys and gals down again, so here is a AU chapter! A.k.a. my very own version of Cinderella! But with TPAH characters! So you can forget all about Canon series for a while. I had a lot of fun writing this, hope you also have fun reading. Thanks to: my Commodore and proofreader AB as always hehe, to the guest sidney(sorry if I misspell but know that I love it when u review), to ghostgirl208 for suggesting the right fairy tale to use and for accompanying the story and for all the ones who favorited, are following or are simply reading quietly. Love to all of you the same amount! Before continuing, just a point I want to make: consider different ages from canon to everyone so it can be better explained; basically this has a 16 y.o. Iris and a Ed and Ozzie that are older than Jim. So no shocking content here, people. Despite a bit of swearing and shooting from the Penguin. Now R &R! See ya next chapter!**

 **PS: as some may be thinking this chapter has nothing to do with the canon story of this fanfiction besides its characters. It's just an insertion, an AU for comical relief purposes. Next chapter we will be back with our normal schedule and you won´t get rid of me this easily, you all will read chapters about Iris until her adulthood ;)**

Chapter 10: Cinderella (TPAH version)

Once upon a time there was a caring old man called Alfred Pennyworth. He had a daughter as pretty and precious as an iris flower, so she received the name Iris for herself. That kind man was a widow and wasn´t as healthy as in his youth, but he lived until his only child was sixteen years old, more enchanting inside and outside than anyone else. How dreadful that day was when death arrived! It took away the only person Iris had ever loved and she cried until she had no more tears to shed. Little did she know that her life was about to take the most dramatic turn.

The province of Gotham had its own ruler in the form of a corrupt nobleman called Aubrey; the King had no idea of what kind of absurd laws Aubrey was making, unfair taxes he was charging and how easy it was for the criminals to walk away if they paid the right amount of bribe. One of these rules said that every kid under 21 who lost both parents, should go to the government child housing and enter the fostering and adoption system. Also, the same government would pay a generous amount of money to anyone that got a child there, regardless of how many of them the person adopted or of what kind of person they were.

So Iris met her new 'family': a trio of criminals, heads of one of the two big mafia families from the province: the Keans. Their names were Barbara, Tabitha and Butch. They would do pretty much anything for money; from robbery, to kidnapping, to assassination, or in this case, adopting to receive the financial aid provided by ruler Aubrey. Since entering the crime family, Iris gained a fake name to use on the streets: Cinderella. While Barbara was known as Mother, Tabitha was Tabby Cat and Butch was Red Hood. Iris also went with them every night to their misdeeds but since the poor little thing had no talent with any kind of weapon, her duty was to clean the crime scenes after the dirty work was done. 'Cinderella' had a single friend: a black-throated blue warbler who she called Cory. He was a swift and smart bird who understood everything she said. Iris couldn´t say that she starved or slept on the floor, but she truly hated the three of them and their manners. And hated even more witnessing such atrocious things happening only to clean up after it.

"Cinderella," any of them would say, "put this dumbass body in the trashcan now! And wash the blood from the floor!"

"Hey, you! Stop being lazy and hide these diamonds in your room!"

"Oh, Cindy, you are so good for nothing! Why is this hostage still not tied up? Beat him with this bat!"

And like this, her days passed. The province had another big crime family: the Cobblepots. Iris knew that pretty much, but she hated mobsters all the same. Thanks to them her life was so bloody and tiresome. She missed Alfred so much… If only there were people like him outside in the world… Then it hit her: probably they existed. She just had to find them! And for this she would need to run away. But how and when?

Her chance arrived in a very unexpected way: an invitation arrived there; it was about a ball that was to be held at the Wayne Castle so Prince James Gordon would choose a bride according to his father´s wish. And since all the noble families were invited, it would be filled with rich people, the perfect chance to find another family, Iris thought. But she could only go if the trio were not at home.

"So… What are we going to do on the weekend?" Iris asked feigning innocence.

"Do we have something planned? I don´t think so. Tabby?" Butch asked the dark-skinned woman.

"What do you think? We are criminals! When we go out it´s to kill or to steal! And everyone in the province will be at the Wayne Castle this weekend so how are we going to rob them?"

"We can go to the party too and attack everyone. Simple." Barbara suggested with a smirk.

"But Mother, all the police guards of the province will be there. Prince James is part of the guard too by the way. We will have no chance." the only man among them remembered.

"And don´t forget his counselor Harvey. He is one of them too. We don´t have that many bullets to use." Tabitha completed.

"Then why don´t we enter everyone´s empty houses and do a good old robbery?" Iris faked a smile.

"Actually..." the matriarch seemed lost in thoughts. "That is a great idea! Cinderella, I´m so happy you are finally learning something from us!" she laughed satisfied.

"But we need to be back before them in that case. What time should it be?" Butch got the invitation to read. "The party will be over at 2 am So as long as we finish before then we will be fine."

"Oh but we can´t bring Cinderella with us then. She is a minor yet. And the law says that she must be home before this."

"Tabby, since when do we respect the laws?" Barbara looked at her in disdain.

"Since Butch forgot to pay last month´s bribe to ruler Aubrey."

"Just great." she looked at him annoyed." "Well, no big deal. We won´t have any mess to be cleaned. Just stay here and cover for us if the police come, alright, Cinderella?"

"Yes, Mother. But all of them will be at the Castle, no?"

"Yeah, but you can never be too cautious."

And so the day of the ball arrived. No one knew about Iris´s true intentions when she suggested the robbery. Of course she felt bad for the people that would have their stuff stolen but it was a necessary evil for her. Once her 'family' went out, Iris got a bag with some belongings, her bird in her shoulder and headed to the door.

"Okay, Cory. Time to find another house. Wish us luck." she sighed and he chirped. She cared little for what she was wearing since she wanted nothing to do with the party itself, despite admittedly having a small crush on the prince for reasons of him being knowingly handsome and kind.

Already having walked a good portion of miles, she literally bumped into someone using a cane, she knew that because it fell from the person´s hand when he hit the floor.

"Why you don´t look where you are going?! That´s why I hate kids!" it came from a man´s voice. When Iris´s lifted her eyes to look who it was, she saw a pale figure dressed in a well-tailored dark purple suit. He had black spiky hair, blue eyes and used a monocle. Refined but intimidating.

"I´m sorry sir. Here." she handed the stranger the cane. It was finely made with ebony and gold in the point.

"What the hell were you doing anyway?" he got it from her. Despite his anger, she caught his eye. Maybe because her complexion resembled his or because of the bird walking with her.

"Well, firstly my name is Iris and this is my warbler Cory." and then she proceeded to explain her whole story. From the loss of her father to the Kean family and her plan to run away.

"Did you say Kean?! I hate that bitch so much! So you are her new slave?!" he shouted.

"Well, te-technically..." Iris stuttered. "Wait, how do you know Mother?"

"Because she is my main enemy of course! If it wasn´t for her wannabe crime family, my business would be going much smoother!"

"Oh my… Don´t tell me you are..." she covered her mouth in surprise.

"Oswald? The head of the Cobblepot family? Yes, missy. I´m the most important mafia boss around!" he answered proudly and loud.

"Then stay away from me." she turned to the other side.

"What? Why?"

"You mafia people are all the same bad people. You go around killing and stealing and making girls like me clean it!"

"Hey, that´s not true! The Keans are that low! My family has principles and honor, missy. We do things with reasons behind them. And..." suddenly he had an idea. "And to prove that I´m going to help you with your plan!"

"You… What?" Iris couldn´t believe it.

"Yeah. I´m going to help you go to that ball and find a new family! Even better, I will help you to marry the prince!"

"M-Me?" she blushed at the last part. "I...I never said I want that!"

"No but you would like it, wouldn´t you?" he sneered at the sight of her red face.

"I… I don´t know… "she lowered her ice blue eyes. "I mean… Any girl would like it and who wouldn´t be happy there, and..."

"And it would be the perfect revenge against Barbara!" Oswald completed laughing. "She tried to get him once but got dumped horribly. But enough talking, let´s find proper clothes for you."

"Do I need to?" Iris looked at her simple outfit in doubt.

"Of course! Come on, let me do my magic!"

"Like a fairy godmother?"

"What? No! Way better! Think about me as your mobster godfather! And real magic is money! Learn that, kid. See how I only wear Gucci! Now let´s go shopping!" he exclaimed excitedly.

With this 'magic' Oswald put Iris inside a sleeveless blue and silver ball gown with a huge waving skirt together with silk covered high heels, gloves and because she insisted, a lacy headband.

"So… How do I look?" she asked finally.

"As sweet as you could. You look gorgeous, dear! Those bitches won´t stand a chance! Nor that good-boy prince!" he said with hatred.

"Mister Oswald, you don´t like prince James?"

"Oh please, he is on the opposite side of me! He is a nice one! If you really wanted a real man, I would recommend someone older, more intelligent, with brown keen eyes, like… like… "he got a slight red shade in his face. "King Edward Nygma."

"Oh my… You are in love with the prince´s father?!" Iris gave the biggest surprised smile.

"Love? This is a strong word to use..." he laughed it off. "But… Yes." Oswald confessed.

"Awwww, he is a lucky man then!" she smiled at him. "I will try to help you too in this case. To repay at least a bit of this."she swirled in her fancy dress.

"Deal. Now for your ride..."

"A carriage?" she tried to guess.

"Oh please! You must be kidding! My limo, of course!"

With this issue solved, they soon arrived at the Wayne Castle.

"Alright, Iris. You go in and do your job. I will be right here to take you back home. Don´t forget to get out before midnight so you can arrive in time and not break the curfew." he instructed. "Do this for both of us. And help her, birdie." Oswald talked to the warbler that nodded in response.

Inside the ballroom that was flawlessly adorned in golden and green shades, a lot of people were dancing and enjoying themselves while others were near the tables eating from a huge feast, and in the highest part of it stood three people: a fairly tall man wearing a royal green uniform, a velvet cape and a golden crown; a bored blonde man in an exquisite equally noble white outfit and a bearded ginger man wearing a brown suit with badges on it, studying the people in the room and making quick commentaries to the blonde.

"Why do I need to do it today?" the bored figure, the prince, sighed.

"Son, at least give these women a chance. Maybe one of them will be a suitable bride." the man wearing green said seriously.

"But father, I don´t think I´m ready to get married yet. And you don´t have a wife either!"

"Yes, in fact I don´t. What a sad thing happened to your mother, no? And all the women after her died. That´s why I have stopped searching for one. Now it´s your turn. You will be here in my place as the King someday, remember that."

"Harvey, help me here." the prince begged to his redheaded counselor.

"Sorry Jimmy, I mean, Your Highness. But it´s important for the country that you have a future queen. And here in the Gotham province, the capital, is the best place to find it. Just look at them, there are some good options here!"

"Don´t you remember what happened the last three times?"

"So? If things were bad with that mafia crazy chick, the Asian one and that intelligent doctor, it does not mean one of these eye candies won´t be a good match! Just go out there and ask some of them to dance!"

"If I could find just someone different like..." then his clear eyes were drawn to the entrance where a girl with the beauty of a flower was. She silently and timidly looked around the place admiring every detail of it. "What a girl..."

"I dunno Your Highness, she must be like, half your age at best!" Harvey murmured.

"So? Does this matter? Who is she?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? Go yourself to ask." seeing the disapproving way king Edward looked at him, he fixed his tone. "I mean, Your Highness." he forced a smile.

"You bet I will." with every step prince James took closer to her, Iris took another; and soon they met at the middle of the ballroom. The guests were utterly silent contemplating the scene, fascinated by her beauty and wanting to know what was going to happen next.

"Your Highness." she bowed. It was the only reaction she could manage.

"May I have this dance, miss?" he extended his hand to her. Whoever she was, this girl was without a doubt the fairest.

"Yes." with a small smile, she accepted. And with a supernatural perfect sync, their bodies moved through the room graciously to the sound of the string quartet music. The mysterious girl was attracting all the attention to herself. Envy from women, desire from men. To whoever approached asking for a dance with her, the prince would answer 'she is my dance partner. Go away.'. This continued for so long that she eventually forgot to keep track of the time and about her original plan. Meanwhile her warbler was at the feast table. But the little animal remembered its duty and went to them, interrupting the dance and chirping at her.

"What is this?" the prince looked at the bird intrigued.

"Oh, he is my friend Cory. It seems like he wants me to take a break." Iris caressed the bird.

"Actually, it´s not a bad idea. We both could benefit from this. I know a good place to rest if you will follow me, miss…?"

"Iris." she answered after wondering if she should give her real name or not.

"Right. You really are like a delicate flower. Then let me escort you." truth be told, he wanted a reason to stay by her side a little longer. For this purpose, they went to the castle´s terrace. An open space with a sumptuous and well planed garden.

"I have never seen something like this before… So many wonders… Each flower here is so delightful!" Iris sighed in admiration with her eyes shimmering even more than the usual.

"I can say the same thing." the way prince James was looking at her made it obvious that he wasn´t talking about the garden. "You surely make them go pale with jealousy, miss Iris."

"Oh, please, Your Highness..." she blushed heavily. She was not used to compliments. "No need to..." her thoughts trailed off. "So, why does Your Highness need to choose a woman today?" she drastically changed the subject.

"Well, you see, my father, King Edward that is, is preparing to retire so he can dedicate all his time to his puzzles and riddles. But before this I need to find someone to be the future Queen. While he has stopped looking for a woman himself. I don´t blame him though." he had lost account of how many times his father had became a widow. So unlucky. "But this party is so bothersome." he laughed. "The only good part was when you arrived. I mean, if I need to choose a girl at least she should be special like..." this sentence was interrupted by a bird pecking him. More precisely, it was Cory pushing him forward. "What the..."

"Whoa! What is it, Cory?" Iris asked when the bird did the same thing with her, putting her and the prince closely face to face, literally. Needless to say what was his intention, he was only doing what Oswald had asked him to. Helping her.

"It seems like he want us to… You know..." he was growing unusually embarrassed. Was this a love symptom? And was another one the fact that he wanted to 'obey' the warbler?

"Y-Yeah..." Iris couldn´t move nor stop staring into his eyes. They were like the most precious gemstones. The dangerous proximity came next; the poor girl could hear her heart beating inside her ears already! With their breathing becoming heavy, their eyes were naturally closing with every inch their lips came closer to one another. So it came. As soft and dainty as a warbler´s feather, they shared a first kiss for a few seconds. If only the time could stop! But as the clock announcing midnight revealed, it was not possible.

"Oh no! It´s midnight! I need to hurry!" Iris separated herself from prince James.

"Wait! You can go, but I won´t tolerate not seeing you again. So let me give you a last gift." he picked a full blossomed scarlet rose in the rosebush. Before putting it in her perfectly curled coffee brown hair, he took her headband. "I will keep this and you keep the rose. So I can find you tomorrow." he caressed her cheek a last time.

"T-Thank you for everything Your Highness! Now I need to go!" with a dreamer smile she run to the car where Oswald was waiting for her.

"A few minutes late. Nothing that will prejudice us, you will still arrive home just in time. So… How it was?" Cobblepot asked seeing her face, with the taste of that fateful kiss still lingering in her rosebud lips and the rose in her hair.

"It was… Really wonderful. So is he." she yearned already feeling sorrowful for leaving him.

"You can tell me more on our way." the mobster smiled. He had taken a liking to the girl.

Thankfully Iris arrived at home way before the criminal Kean trio so she could hide all the evidences and go to bed. But before this, Oswald promised to go back there tomorrow. And he would keep his word but he had a place to go before.

"Hello, Your Highness!" Cobblepot smiled at the prince when he arrived in the castle.

"You!" he wasn´t even a little bit pleased seeing Oswald. "You are the mafia boss Cobblepot! You must be feeling very brave today to come here!"

"Oh, please, pretty-boy! Don´t get me wrong! If it was for me only, I would come to visit the King, not you. But I know all about yesterday´s ball and that you want to see that girl Iris again." he smiled mischievously.

"How do you know about her?"

"Because I gave her a ride back and forth. We became kinda friends. But I´m not the subject here. Do you want to come with me to her house or not?" he offered.

"I..." the prince wasn´t so sure if he should get into a mobster´s car, but as soon as he touched the headband that he retained from her, he made up his mind. "I want to, of course."

"Aw, you got that from her hair? So crazily romantic!" Cobblepot mocked.

"You would never understand what I´m feeling." the prince defied. How could a criminal know anything about true love, or about love at first sight, first dance, first kiss? Or even about finding all those in the same person?

"That´s what you think." he replied annoyed and not willing to share his feelings for the king with the prince.

"Who are they?" James Gordon asked as soon as he entered the car and saw two men dressed in black with two heavy guns each. Both waved to greet him.

"Don´t worry. These are my… Friends, Gabe and Victor! We are all going to the same place! Can you believe that?" Oswald gave a fake laugh. "Very soon you will be with your beloved future wife. Think just about that and leave the rest with me." he stated dryly. He was ready to finish Barbara and the other two. If in the process he was going to help Iris and the prince, so it was a welcomed bonus for his new friend.

In the Kean house things were all natural. The robbery went great the night before, so Tabitha, Butch and Barbara were in good spirits and grateful for their 'Cinderella' idea, then they were using the daytime to chill out until the next crime. Not that Iris really cared if they were being nicer to her or not, that would not change anything in her head. She still wanted to go away, but this time, to be with the man she loved. Suddenly someone knocked at the door.

"Hey, Tabby, go open it!" Barbara shouted from the couch.

"No way! I´m busy with my nails! You go, Butch!"

"Why don´t you send Cindy here?" he pointed at Iris.

"Because I´m in a good mood to give her a break and I´m telling you to do it!" The blonde woman responded aggressively.

"Fine." he grumbled and opened it only to see the three heavily armed men.

"SURPRISE, BITCHES!" Oswald entered shooting everywhere, followed by Victor and Gabe. "Missed me, Babs? This will teach you to stay out of my way!"

"Pengy! You traitor! Tabby, get my gun in the kitchen, now!"

"Hey Iris, you and that warbler, go outside now!" Oswald ordered. "Trust me!"

"Do you know Cinderella?!" Barbara was shocked.

"That´s what you are calling her? So outdated!" he shot at her leg. His two 'associates' had already subdued Tabitha and Butch since they were unarmed. "Before I kill you three, let me tell you a secret, Babs: Iris was chosen by prince James Gordon yesterday! I helped her with this too!" he laughed at her face that was screaming with rage. "Yes, she won. Just like me!" with this he gave her the final bullet.

"I won´t clean up after this!" Iris proclaimed and ran outside where the prince was.

"Miss Iris!"

"Your Highness!" she was deeply happy seeing him again but couldn´t let go of the formalities.

"So this is where you live… Cobblepot brought me here."

"Yes, he is inside shooting everything." she explained.

"What?! It´s better if I call the royal guard and..."

"Your Highness. No." Iris put her hand above his. "These people inside the house are from the Kean family, the heads of it. It´s better this way. And I can´t believe you came here all the way just to stop a mobster conflict." she spoke with sincerity.

"No, of course not. I came because I wanted to see you again, miss Iris! Last night, and especially that kiss… It made me see that I have been looking for someone like you for forever! But there is only one of you, and I´m so selfish that I want you all to myself. So it will be my pleasure if you accept to become my wife."

"Yes, Your Highness." she held the urge to cry. In her heart she knew the answer from the very start. "But… please stop calling me miss Iris. If we are going to get married, calling me Iris is more than enough."

"I agree on that. And you can stop with the titles too, you will become a princess and after that a queen too. So you can call me simply Jim." he smiled at her.

"Fine by me. Jim." she tried it. The sensation was weird but she got the feeling that it would be better once she got used to it. Because she would be saying this name many times in her life. And so, came the second, the third, the forth kiss. All while Oswald and co finished their 'service'. "Can I ask for a very special favor?"

"Anything for my future queen."

"You see, my friend Oswald..." so she told him about his crush on King Edward and asked if a date could be arranged.

"My father? Actually this makes sense… His destiny is not with a woman for sure. So this can be done." he smirked. In the end Jim only wanted his father to be happy.

Not long after, prince Jim and the 'Cinderella' Iris got married in a beautiful ceremony and she(together with Cory of course) was welcomed into the castle, except for the servants that were afraid of her(not that they had a say in this), Harvey got in her a young sister figure; Oswald and the King Edward Nygma started dating and things went pretty well, the King even put Cobblepot to run the Gotham province after he jailed the corrupt Aubrey. Gotham became safer and more prosperous than ever with the Cobblepot mafia family working on it without having to worry about the Kean family, which ended after the death of its heads. Jim and Iris became great and generous rulers for their people after Edward´s retirement. They had four children and fell more in love with each other every day. Iris knew Alfred was very proud of her in heaven. Nygma spent the rest of his days with Oswald enjoying his riddles and the newly grown family.

And so everyone lived happily ever after.


	11. Chapter 11: Debuting Party

**A/N: sit down, relax and grab some candies everyone because we will have a lot of notes today, and PLEASE, READ THEM, it´s important:**

 **1: I´m baaaaaaaaack! Yes, this nurse is not dead, folks. It´s just that… Since last time my life has been a chaos you know? I have moved out of my apartment to a new one and I´m not totally settled out yet, not to mention the writer´s block that was stopping me from typing this story… In another words, I have always been sure of what I wanted to write but I don´t know if it´s because of the mess in my place or because of the long hiatus of the show but I couldn´t bring my fingers to do the job… And I´m TERRIBLY sorry for THIS!**

 **I know HOW MUCH you guys and girls need this as a medicine because of the sad and bloody canon line nygmob is following in Gotham (and who knows what will happen when it comes back with 3x15, right?), and still I wronged you like this… I feel guilty like I said to my dearest proofreader and friend AB(who worked beautifully as a beta here too as always), because you all deserve better; if this story still exists is thanks to your support and kindness during all this time, it´s because with this I know that I´m reaching someone with it, just like I wished to do from the start. That´s my reward, healing hearts from the breaking feelings the series causes. With all this is mind, and thanks to reading many adorable stories from ghostgirl208 lately, making me realize how much of this is necessary right now, I gathered up all I had to try my best to compensate all of you, my anon and known readers, with Chapter 11. So I really hope all of you can forgive me for not following my normal updating schedule, I promise it won´t happen even again. From now on, I will update at least twice a month, okay? Don´t give up on me or on the story, I ask you. As always I´m grateful for the reviews and visualizations!**

 **2: About the Chapter itself: it´s longer than the previous ones, it contains a few flashbacks, many characters and even a musical scene. Also, references from previous chapters used for continuity(like from the Cinderella one, when Alfred speaks, or in Harvey´s lines), and from pop culture (the song used here is A Bird Without Wings, by Celtic Thunder). Also I used this one to define some dynamics between the main characters, like, here in the TPAH canon timeline I work with the OsBabsFriendship! Instead of them being enemies like in the show lately or like in the AU chapter. AND nothing here was random. The song was chosen because my proofreader/friend/Commodore loves Celtic Thunder and because of the lyrics; Alfred, Selina and Bruce are in this one because I felt terrible "killing" Alfred in the AU context since he is a very dear character to me and to a lot of Gotham fans. And babybatcat is always a delight too. Every scene, character and line has a reason why.**

 **3: I have yet another surprise for you. Go to my account on dA(yohime-angel) again, I got a little something after the Cinderella story prepared ;) die of cuteness with me, please!**

 **4: Now enjoy the story! R &R, tell your friends! Love ya all! No needles this week, the medicine will be liquid in a spoon, so open your mouths wide and nicely!**

Chapter 11: Debuting Party

The whole of Gotham city was dead silent that night, except for the inside of the mayor´s car…

"I have never been so embarrassed in my whole life! And publicly! I say that as a person who was bullied back in school!" Oswald mourned.

"Okay, Os, for now let´s not be that worried… Maybe tomorrow I can contain the damage that today´s party can do for your image!" Ed tried. "Besides, that event was your idea, if I need to remind you."

"Don´t be condescending with me, Eddie, my dear… Say the words that I know you want to." Oswald hissed.

"Say what, my dearest 'wife'? That perhaps it was too early to debut our daughter for the whole city in an _official mayoral party!_?"

"So, little Iris, did you have fun tonight with your family and all the Gotham people?" the very-well-known man driving asked for the girl sitting right next to him in the passenger seat, at the front part of the vehicle, unaware of the conversation her parents were having.

"Yes! Very much, uncle Gabe!" she giggled despite being tired. Oswald saw no reason to hire a driver for _that_ occasion so one of his loyal men worked just fine. "I´m just surprised that I got to meet so many relatives today! I didn´t know papa´s family was that big! He never told me." she commented innocently. For her safety, Cobblepot made sure that all of his men and underworld families got to meet her, but still not wanting to reveal his side-job activities, he came up with a few white lies that she ate completely being so young and having such deep trust in his words. So, for all that Iris knew, that man by his side and many others that she met at the party were her uncles and cousins.

"The mayor is very busy and can be rather forgetful, kid." he forced a laugh. "But let me tell you that all your… Family, really liked you today too." he patted her head.

"For real?!" she grinned. The more people liking her, the merrier. "Even in this silly dress?" she had not approved of the outfit she had to wear to such a formal occasion, it was way tighter and more delicate than her normal clothes and in more "happy" colors, because it would look better in the newspapers photos according to Ed.

"Of course. Now our family is even bigger. What can be better than this? Surely your… Friends had their fair amount of fun too?" Gabe went on with the conversation, making sure that Iris wouldn´t turn her attention to Oswald and Edward.

"Well, Cory for one wasn´t allowed to attend. "she pouted. "Daddy said that fancy parties can´t have animals, or anything like that! He never let´s me have fun."

"Oh Iris, I´m sure that this is not totally true. He told me that sometimes you two spend quality time alone without Mr. Cobblepot and that you have a lot of fun."

"Well… Yeah… "Iris admitted. She enjoyed the time together with Ed indeed, despite the more… Intellectual and calm activities he usually chose for them.

"And who is Cory anyway?"

"My blue warbler and best friend, at least, best flying friend! He is with Steve now." she happily answered her 'uncle'.

"How about human friends that attended the party?"

"Of course I saw people that I already knew like Harvey and Jim..." she yawned over the smile. "And new people that were really nice like a girl called Selina with a boy called Bruce, and an old man named Alfred… "she yawned again. "Also, a friend of papa that said that I can call her auntie Babs..." her eyes closed for a second then she woke up.

"Okay, I think I get it. You should rest until we arrive at your home." Gabe smiled. It was a weird change that Oswald made, both for his personal and 'professional' life, but in a good way.

And while the little Cobblepot-Nygma was fast asleep, the mayor and the chief of staff were tired of arguing and opted for the silence for the rest of the ride.

The next day, at the breakfast table, things were anything but normal for the 'royal' family: Edward was far from ready to go to work with his hair being a mess, his shirt unbuttoned and his coat crumpled, while frenetically leafing through the newspapers; Oswald had _too much_ gel in his hair, was without a necktie and forgot to match his suit with his shoes, but even worse, he was _not_ feeding Iris, instead he was staring at his cup of coffee. And Iris? She was in a blue dress as usual since she saw nothing wrong at first but was eating by herself with Cory having the crumbs, as her parents were not touching the food Olga brought.

"Uh… Papa…?" she called. Something was off even to her eyes.

"Yes, bee-hummingbird?" Oswald answered trying to hide his worries.

"Is something wrong?"

"Why… Do you ask this?" he was caught by surprise, almost letting his cup fall.

"Because you and daddy are really strange since yesterday. You two look tired and you didn´t even dress normally." she pointed out.

"It´s nothing with you, hummer. It´s grown-ups stuff." he dismissed the subject.

"Why do you adults always say that?!"

"What are you talking about?!" he was taken aback by the sudden change of tone of his usually quiet-spoken daughter.

"It´s always like this! When you, or daddy, or even Jim is making a face like that and don´t want to tell me what is happening, you say that it´s a thing for adults only! That I can´t help because I´m a kid!" she was angry because she was feeling pushed aside, so much that she had to fight the urge to cry.

"I… I just..." Oswald wasn´t sure of what was the right thing to say. He wasn´t sure even of when things went wrong the night before, but he got the feeling that he was about to find out. So before that, he simply hugged the child he _chose_ to love and cherish.

" _Is mayor Crumblepot out of his mind? Is he going too far to spoil his new princess with our money?"_ Ed recited.

"What did you say, Ed?"

"I just read it here." Nygma showed him the political section of the newspaper. "Some shady journalist wrote this. Probably someone that is thinking ahead about the next elections and your possible adversaries." he explained.

"Why would anyone say that?!"

"As I said, even thinking about the party was a bit too much. Remember?"

 _Flashback 1:_

 _A few days before, in the morning, Oswald was in the kitchen making tea when Ed arrived with a smile announcing good news._

" _Here you are!" Nygma gave him a peck on the lips._

" _Yes, making some tea to have a small and traditional tea party with our bee-hummingbird." they had come to the agreement to call her that, mixing both nicknames._

" _Well, speaking of her, I just checked the numbers for last month´s tour at the city hall art gallery, where, as you know, all the mayors´s portraits are exhibited..." he started._

" _Go on." he arranged the tea set._

" _And it had more than twice as many visits as the same period last year!" he revealed the results excitedly._

" _Really?! So does this mean that they liked my portrait?"his smiled matched the one from when he won the election._

" _They loved it, my little bird! They loved seeing mayor Cobblepot as a man dedicated to his family, so much that he included them in his picture! It was just like the artist said!"_

" _And surely they loved Iris too, right?" his way of smiling changed._

" _Yes. Why do you ask?" Ed was slightly worried seeing this change._

" _Then maybe they should get to know her. Like, to really know her." Oswald started to wander around the kitchen, thinking about something._

" _What exactly are you suggesting, Os?"_

" _Don´t you see, Ed? All the year round we have to do so many pointless parties for the sake of the city´s calendar… Why not make a really fabulous debuting event to formally introduce Iris to Gotham´s citizens? She is their princess after all. Besides, being with us she can be in danger, so the right people need to see her too, like my… partners, you know. And our enemies need to know that she is ours and will be protected at any costs, in light and darkness." Cobblepot exposed his main idea._

" _I can´t deny that you have a point, at least in the last part. But why do we need a huge event for this? She is eight. Not sixteen." Ed was positively baffled._

" _So I can assure you that this conversation will happen again when her 16th birthday arrives. But for now, all I can answer is that I need to do what a mayor has to do! People need to see my money and power, Ed. And what I have been reading in my father´s old diary about his family´s soirees too." he revealed._

" _Fine. At least tell me the details. When do you want to do it?" Ed got ready to prepare everything. He had twice the responsibilities this time._

" _Next weekend. I don´t want to wait too much."_

" _Where will it be?"_

" _Let´s see… I want to impress and I need a place where everyone can go in and out, so… Find a fancy hotel with a terrace, we will use the outside space."_

" _List of guests?"_

" _For the VIPs the underworld bosses, my main hit men, the people who attended the founders´s dinner, the Wayne heir, the girl that of course he will bring along and his guardian, and if you don´t give one to Babs she will scream at me all night along. Other than that, I said I want as much of Gotham´s people there as possible, so if the person is not in Arkham, invite them."_

" _Certainly." he took the notes. "Should I call a party planner?"_

" _If you want to. But be aware that I want the theme to be elegant minimalism, the food to be half Asian and half Italian, to have eight types of desserts besides a six-layer cake, for the decoration red and blue flowers, long black bows in the curtains, ice sculptures of birds, also hire some harp players and I´m gonna need spotlights with baby blue light, a dark red carpet made of velvet, a piano and don´t forget to call the press and the media. I will leave the rest to you." Oswald smiled absorbed in his plan._

" _Of course." Ed answered automatically, thinking how little time he had to make so much happen._

 _End of Flashback 1_

"Right, maybe it was a bit exaggerated and it became too much of an event to control, especially to an eight years old. But this has nothing to do with the citizen´s money! Or with how I spend their taxes!"

"And do you think that they care? They just want to spread rumors!"

"Rats."

"I wish a rat would eat that fluffy stupid dress I had to wear!" Iris declared in sudden honesty.

"You didn´t like it, hon?" Ed asked in an almost hurt tone.

"A pink dress for _me_? Really? And it was too… Mermaid-like!"

"It´s my turn to say… _I told you so_ , Eddie." Oswald mocked.

"Wait! So it was daddy´s idea?!" she turned her attention to Nygma, in shock. "I thought you knew me better than this!" she screamed.

"Don´t use this tone with me, little miss!" Edward censured her. "I´m your daddy and I know better!"

"Excuse me, Ed, but isn´t it usually the mother who knows better, or in this case, the papa? You know, another rule of marriage." the mayor corrected him, a rare thing to occur, pointing to himself.

"Perhaps it is, but… You have to agree that such an important event needed a totally different kind of dress!" he wouldn´t give up on his choice.

"But it had to be totally opposite to her tastes?" Cobblepot sighed. "Anyway, keep reading the newspaper. What else are they saying?"

"Let´s see… _What was that with all the cake and sweets? Is the mayor trying to make everyone become diabetic so he can taxes us extra health care?_ Gosh, this one was really dumb..." Nygma growled. He was going to have a lot of work ahead. "Oh, look at this! Some pics of Iris and Barbara posing together just like movie stars!"

"Let me see!" Oswald grabbed the paper from his hands with his ice blue eyes shining pridefully. "Finally something good! Isn´t our hummingbird super lovely in it, Eddie?"

"Yeah, because Barbara Kean is exactly the kind of influence any parent would want for their child!" Nygma said covered in sarcasm.

"Come on, she is not that bad, Ed! She is like a sister to me! Who else would talk with me about girl´s stuff and pretty men?"

"What?" Ed asked in disbelief.

"You know that if it´s up to me we talk about you all the time!" he chuckled. "But like I was saying, did you like meeting your auntie, dearest?" he asked to Iris.

"Very much, papa! She is beautiful and so funny!" the girl smiled.

"But when were these pictures taken?" Oswald questioned.

"Right after you left me with her, papa. Remember?"

"You left our daughter alone with Barbara?! You do know that she was in Arkham once, right?!" Nygma freaked out. For him it was one step closer to his biggest nightmare related to Iris.

 _Flashback 2:_

 _Things were going smoothly at the party. At least the introductions Oswald wanted to do as soon as possible: she had just met Gabe, Victor and the underworld families, or in the story he told her, their relatives._

" _So… Why is uncle Victor smiling so much?"she asked holding his hand while they walked away from their tables._

" _Oh, he is just really happy to finally meet you, bee-hummingbird!"_

" _Found you, Pengy!" a blonde woman interrupted the two grinning, stopping in front of them._

" _I already told you to not call me that!"_

" _What is a little nickname between friends with a story like ours, right?"_

" _Are you a friend of my papa?" Iris looked at that woman with visible admiration. She was tall, had golden wavy short hair perfectly done in a fancy bun, wore an elegant maroon formal gown with very high heels matching, had diamonds in her ears and neck and her make up was totally in red shades. In Iris´s childish eyes, that woman was like a fashionable goddess._

" _Did you just say of your…?" she stopped, realizing something. "Oh my goodness! Oswald! When did you and that nerd husband of yours have a kid?!" she punched his shoulder._

" _Ouch! We didn´t, biologically speaking, Barbara." he explained."We adopted her a few months ago."_

" _Wow. If you didn´t say that I would never guess. She looks like you so much! With a bit of Edward too." she studied the girl just like everyone._

" _Yeah, we get that a lot, right, Iris?"he waved his hand at her. But the girl didn´t answer. She was still impressed with the other woman._

" _And when were you going to tell me that? This is big news, you know? I bet almost everyone in Gotham knows already!"_

" _What? Of course not!" he sneered at her. "This party is to let everyone know. Just a few people are aware of it besides our servants. And the people that saw my official portrait." he added._

" _Your portrait?! She is in it? So everyone knows!" Kean said feeling left out._

" _The gallery is not that popular, Babs." Oswald sighed. "Look, I wanted to tell you before today, I swear. But you were never available to meet up! In fact, it has been months since I last saw you!"_

" _Fine. I admit I have been busy." she gave up. "But now that you can´t hide my niece from me anymore, you can´t stop me from having some 'girl´s only' fun with her!"she winked at him. "So, your name is Iris, right? You can call me auntie Babs from now on, because I´m like a sister to your 'papa'!"her first act was to hug the little girl._

" _O-Okay… I will try." Barbara was so open that it intimidated her a bit, but she got the feeling that they were going to get along well._

" _Babs, don´t tell me that Tabitha and Butch are wandering somewhere here." Cobblepot warned her._

" _I can´t deny nor confirm this, Pengy. But if I remember what Edward said, your rule was 'if the person is not in Arkham, they can come'." she shrugged her shoulders._

" _Okay. Fine. Whatever. I won´t let them bother me. Not today. I still have a lot to do before the end of this night." he decided._

" _Mayor Cobblepot?" a personal assistant from the party planner called him._

" _What now?"_

" _It seems like the people are complaining about the salty caramel in the three layer fudge."_

" _Salty…? Bloody. Salty. Caramel?! Who said it was going to be salty?!" he barked. "That wasn´t what I asked for! I told this to Ed last week!" then he turned to the girls. "Sorry, but I have a little problem to take care of. Babs, can you do me a favor and keep an eye on my hummingbird for a while? Just to avoid her going around on her own." he asked._

" _Of course! Go cut as many throats as you need, my friend!" she laughed. "We will have a lot of fun here!"_

 _Still unsure of what Nygma would think of it, but having no other option, Cobblepot left._

" _Who are the people papa was talking about?" Iris broke her silence._

" _Oh, they are also two old friends, as you can say. But… You must be really proud of your father being the mayor, right?"_

" _I don´t know, this was his job before I met him, just like daddy already had his work in the city hall too."_

" _I suppose that you are talking about Edward Nygma here, right? And if Oswald decided to take you in, you must be really special, let me tell you." seeing that for Iris things were like they were and she was alright with this, she decided to brighten the topic. "Enough small talk, are you seeing the photographers right there?"_

" _Yes."_

" _It would be a shame to not have everyone for the next weeks seeing such beautiful dresses like ours, so let´s go over there and take some real pics! Not like the staged ones they make."Barbara suggested._

" _I don´t know..." she still had reservations about pictures even after the portrait._

" _You are a shy type, I see. This will be cute in the future, but for now, come with me and I will show you how it´s done! Just imitate me and you will be fine!"_

 _And with this advice, the news next day ended up with some really glamorous, award-winning, pics of the two, much to Ed´s dismay._

 _End of Flashback 2_

"So you really allowed Barbara Kean to look after her." Ed repeated slowly. As if trying to calm down his anger.

"Just for a few minutes, Eddie. And it was all because of your stupid salty caramel!" he screamed.

"Auntie Babs is really nice! When can we see her again?" Iris commented ignoring their mood.

"When papa and daddy schedule a date night, hummer." Oswald answered, going back to his normal tone.

"What does this mean, Os? That she will be her sitter?! You must be kidding me!"

"Just read the news, Ed. That´s your task as my chief of staff right now." he ignored his pleas.

"Let´s see... In the gossips section: 'W _hat the hell was the first man wearing? How many trees did he kill to make that fugly leaf green suit?'_ HOW CAN THEY SAY THAT?! ' _We accept our mayor married to a man, but he could do better, at least finding someone_ _whose taste_ _is not_ _forest-grandpa like 'Nerdward'_ _!"_ Ed hissed every word he read.

"Hey, Eddie, don´t let that get to you, come on! That fashion police is the worst!" Oswald tried to comfort him.

"That´s the most ridiculous thing I have read!"

"I know, green is so your color! Of course, the leaf green shade is not that wise to choose to a night event but… It fits you so well anyway!"

"Be aware that someone will pay for it!" it was as if Dark Ed had said that.

"Now you are scaring me, Eddie." then wanting to avoid Iris seeing it, he caught her attention. "So, bee-hummingbird, before my speech I couldn´t find you anywhere, and Barbara was with me, so was Ed. Where did you go?"

"Sorry papa, but I was kinda bored so I went to walk for a while. And I found some new people too."

"New people you say? Like… Who?" Cobblepot asked despite having some suspicious.

"Well..."

 _Flashback 3:_

 _Her feet were in too bright pink shoes and her body was restrained in a frilly and equally pink pageant-like dress made for little girls like her, even her normally free brown curly hair was tied in a side ponytail with waves in the ends. So she couldn´t be feeling any less like herself; she was a dark and wild princess, not a cotton-candy one. Iris had spent the last hours walking side by side with the mayor being introduced to more people than she could remember. Some relatives, some complete strangers, some people she saw a few times in the city while strolling with her parents on the weekends or in her alone times going out to play with Cory, but in any circumstance, she needed a break. Despite liking meeting more family and the time with Barbara, she wanted to do anything she would normally do right there and as soon as possible. Iris caught a glimpse of her 'fun-meter' changing when she spotted two very well-known faces: her two adults cop friends, one of them being her ideal of a hero and a prince at the same time._

" _Jim! Harvey! You are here too!" she quickly went to them._

" _Look, it´s our little sunshine! So pink today! That´s not your color, sweetie." Bullock mocked her._

" _Yeah, I don´t know who chose this for me. But I can say the same thing, Harv. Black does not suit you."she wasn´t joking. Because of the occasion, all the men were required to dress accordingly and the detectives were no exception. And despite black not being the first choice Harvey would make, it was a safe choice to dress smartly._

" _Aren´t you as sassy as ever? Nygma is not punishing you enough because of your little smarty-pants answers?"_

" _Harv, are you really starting an argument with a little girl?" Jim asked as if he couldn´t believe it. "You know she wasn´t trying to offend anyone. You two are friends too, right?"_

" _Of course we are!" Iris answered. "And I wasn´t making a joke, Harv!" she explained._

" _See? I told you. She is a nice girl and likes you."_

" _Oh yeah, Jimmy? Okay, I agree. We are friends. But I assure you that she doesn´t like me as much as she likes you!" he teased. It was too much fun to see Iris´s innocent blushing face."Say, sunshine, do you think that the color black suits him?"_

" _Y-Yes! I-I mean..." she hated how he could do that."Why would´t it? Anything suits him." she said what was in her young, and pounding, heart._

" _Thanks I guess..." Jim wasn´t sure about that whole conversation._

" _See? It will always be like this. But like I told you before, Jimmy… Just wait ten years." he laughed._

" _Gosh, Harvey, that was really…"he was about to reprehend his partner´s behavior when three other people walked in their direction. "Hey, it´s Bruce!"_

" _Detective Gordon. Captain Bullock." the young boy approached them with quick greetings. "Surely you remember Selina Kyle, right?"by his side an equally young girl with a wild cat appearance, dressed sharply, stood._

" _How could we not? And I see that Mr. Alfred Pennyworth is here too." Jim referred to an elegant, older looking man with them._

" _Yes, for some reason mayor Cobblepot included us in the 'important' list." the young girl said in an uninterested tone._

" _Perhaps he wanted you three to know Miss Iris personally, did you think about that possibility?" Harvey exposed his opinion. "Maybe you not so much, but Bruce and Alfred, sure."_

" _Luckily for you, here´s your chance!" the detective took Iris by the hand and put her in front of them."Guys, meet Iris Juliet Cobblepot-Nygma. The most prized treasure of the mayor and the chief of staff. And a dear little friend for me and Harvey."_

" _Hi, Miss Iris! I´m Bruce Wayne, from the Wayne enterprises! If you ever need me, you can call anytime, I mean it. And this is Selina Kyle, my girlfr-"_

" _I´m not your girlfriend! How many times do we need to have this conversation?!"_

" _Do you two need to steal the scene in another person´s party every time?" the man named Alfred stopped them. "I´m terribly sorry for this, little Miss Iris. But..."he looked at her for a few moments. Iris felt it to be in a different way than most people did it, normally when people studied her, it was to say how much she looked like Oswald and Ed. "Allow me to say how befitting your name is to your soul. I can see that you will grow up to be beautiful in the inside and the outside, just like the Iris flower. Did you know that its meaning is associated with royalty? Just perfect for the mayor´s daughter." he smiled sincerely at her._

" _Amazing as always, Alfred." James complimented him. "Did you hear, Iris? You will be like a flower among birds." he joked._

" _According to daddy I´m a honeybee already!" she laughed._

" _I have something to say for you too, detective Gordon." Alfred got his attention back._

" _Yeah?"_

" _Open your eyes wide and follow your heart, with your eyes to the sunshine. The future will be really interesting."with that, he left followed by the teenagers. At least a part of that advice was familiar to Jim._

 _A bit after it, Iris had to go to her parents again._

 _End of Flashback 3_

"Yeah, just like I thought." Oswald sighed. "Of course you had to go after Gordon." he groaned. Just like anyone he thought 'first loves' were the most adorable thing, but how long could a 'little girl crush' last?

"Found IT!" Edward shouted.

"You found what, Ed?" the mayor asked tired of all that.

"What we were really looking for, right in the middle of the newspaper. It says… ' _The mayor presented us with a_ _p_ _rincess or a walking hurricane?'_ "he read disgusted with the media.

"Oh no. They are talking about the… Ending, right?" he laid his head in the table.

"Let´s see… _Miss Cobblepot-Nygma, after the eloquent and passionate speech_ _given by our mayor_ _, proved two things: she is lovely to our eyes, but is also a force of nature_ _and perhaps should be feared in the future. She has the power to bring everything down, whe_ _th_ _er we are talking literally..."_

"Nooooo! Let´s not remember the part when we died of embarrassment because of the destroyed terrace!"

"It was all a lot of accidents, papa and daddy! One after the other! I swear!" Iris apologized. "I was just trying to rescue a baby bird that fell inside the punch bowl, then Selina saw me and we ended up spilling all of it on the floor, so someone fell and pulled the bow on the curtain! But then the whole thing loosened and crashed upon some ice birds! So I don´t know how but the ice shards dropped on the food and it dirtied a lot of people´s clothes! So they started screaming and making a mess, so more things ended up broken! As I said, nothing on purpose! But I saved the bird!"

"I know, hon." Cobblepot said dejected. His planned debut party was a huge disaster in the end, even if it was a bunch of accidents. He was ruined if Ed couldn´t do anything. People wouldn´t forget it.

" _...Or figuratively when we witnessed a breathtaking, heartbreaking performance made by father and daughter when mayor Cobblepot and Miss Iris took all the attentions on stage in that terrace right after his fierce words and before the 'destruction', when he blessed us with his talent on the piano and she took our hearts with a young, but beautiful and soft voice matching his notes. Something tells me that the song they chose speaks a lot about the bond they share."_

"What? Our performance? Did they like it?" Oswald asked surprised.

"Yes! It says it right here like I just read! You two were lofty! I was so proud while watching you!" Ed stated.

 _Flashback 4:  
_

" _People of Gotham, may I have your full attention?" confident wearing the suit Elijah had tailored to him, having walked down the dark red velvet carpet, the mayor decided it was time for his speech, to formally talk about the real reason why they were all gathered there. With all the cameras and the citizens facing them, making sure that literally everyone would listen to him, he felt it was time to start, so with Ed and Barbara right behind him on stage, he took Iris´s right hand. "Last autumn I made a decision that changed not only my life, but the life of the person I love the most in the world too." he glanced at Ed, receiving a nod from him in response. "I, at this same time last year would say with all the words that I hated children because of my hard childhood, but then I went to a charity event and bonded with a little girl. I saw a lot of myself in her at first, but aside from some physical resemblance, she is only herself! She is not a mirror! And I adopted her, I chose to love and raise her as my own together with my now husband, Mr. Edward Nygma. Since then everyday is full of learning experiences and new challenges, and it makes me want to fulfill my promises to you all, that I will make this city safe and clean! That´s why I invited every one of you here, Gotham citizens. I wanted you to see the heart that is outside my body, my daughter, the reason why I will be the best mayor you will ever have! I want to take care of every child, to make the lives of their parents better! I want everyone to go out in the morning and feel like they will come back to their families at the end of the day. And I also want to make something clear..."in the middle of the bright lights of the flashes and the murmurs of people commenting, he took a deep breath before staring at the camera in the center. "There´s nothing in the world that Ed or I would´t do in the name of her safety! Messing with her is messing with this city, it´s finding a nemesis!" that was his last message, the warning to his enemies. The ulterior motive to introducing her to the criminal families._

 _Those were his last words. A few silent seconds passed, then one by one, people applauded his speech, they cheered for him, without a doubt they loved their ruler. And were starting to love his daughter too._

" _Thank you, everyone." he said, with Barbara and Ed smiling and touching his shoulders showing support, right before leaving the stage they had prepared. "Now I have something else prepared for tonight. Actually, we have, right, Iris?"_

" _Yes." she said quietly. She was nervous but would do her best. If not to cause a good impression, because Jim was watching her._

" _We want you to get to know Iris a little better, and the best way to do so is if she entertains you a little bit before the end of the night. So we will share the stage today for a duet." Cobblepot took his seat at the piano. It was a shiny black one with real ivory keys, simply perfect for this presentation._

 _Iris took some deep breaths, trying to remember all the advice Ed had given her and how much they had rehearsed, also she kept in mind that she had to focus. She walked to the marked place on the stage where she knew the spotlights with the baby blue lights would illuminate her lissome figure and when Oswald gave her the first note on the piano she opened her mouth and started:_

 _ **Like a bird without wings**_

 _ **That longs to be flying,**_

 _ **Like a motherless child**_

 _ **Left lonely and crying.**_

 _ **Like a song without words,**_

 _ **Like a world without music,**_

 _ **I wouldn't know what to do**_

 _ **I'd be lost without you**_

 _ **Watchin' over me..**_

 _Oswald wasn´t sure if that was an appropriate choice of song, not because of the content, but because it made him think too much about the day when he first met Iris, a girl all alone and lost in that orphanage, so he was afraid of becoming too emotional._

 _ **I get so lonely,**_

 _ **when you're away**_

 _ **I count every moment,**_

 _ **I wait every day,**_

 _ **Until you're home again**_

 _ **And hug me so tight**_

 _ **That's when I know**_

 _ **Everything is alright.**_

 _For Iris, in a way it talked about how much she missed Edward and Oswald when they were away since they were essentially all she had in the world._

 _ **Like a bird without wings**_

 _ **That longs to be flying,**_

 _ **Like a motherless child**_

 _ **Left lonely and crying.**_

 _ **Like a song without words**_

 _ **Like a world without music,**_

 _ **I wouldn't know what to do**_

 _ **I'd be lost without you**_

 _ **Watchin' over me.**_

 _ **You're my guardian angel**_

 _ **My light and my guide**_

 _ **Your hand on my shoulder**_

 _ **And you by my side.**_

 _ **You make everything beautiful,**_

 _ **You make me complete.**_

 _ **Everything in my world**_

 _ **I lay at your feet..**_

 _Meanwhile all Ed could think about was all the times he had sung Iris to sleep and how it made him feel warm and normal compared to all the hardships he had to endure until his life with Oswald. He had a job that he was proud of, a loving husband and a wonderful daughter. That´s what kept his dark side buried._

 _ **Like a church with no steeple,**_

 _ **Where a bell never rings.**_

 _ **In a town without people,**_

 _ **Where no voice in the choir**_

 _ **ever sings.**_

 _ **If a boat on the ocean**_

 _ **Would be lost with no sail,**_

 _ **Then without your devotion**_

 _ **Surely all that I dreamed**_

 _ **of would fail.**_

 _That part caught Barbara because a church almost changed her life but in the hard way she learned some things are not meant to be and that she was better that way, she had her own fulfilling life._

 _During that same part, all that Jim could think about was what Alfred had said to him._

 _ **Like a song without words**_

 _ **Like a world without music,**_

 _ **I wouldn't know what to do**_

 _ **I'd be lost without you**_

 _ **Watchin' over me**_

 _ **I wouldn't know what to do**_

 _ **I'd be lost without you**_

 _ **Watchin' over me**_

 _The only common meaning everyone found was that their mayor meant every one of his words and was watching over the city, and because of that and Iris´s singing, their performance was an emotional success. The citizens cheered even more than before, greeting both of them and even Ed for having them as a family. If the night had ended there, it would have been a golden star._

 _End of Flashback 4_

"But what is the conclusion then, Eddie?" Oswald asked anxiously.

"I will read it to you: ' _Whatever your opinion on this subject is, the fact is that this event was a memorable one, so is the Cobblepot-Nygma family. And we all should_ _a_ _wait big news from this girl in the next years.'_ "

"It´s not bad. It´s almost good." he felt the weight being lifted from his shoulders.

"Well, of course you will have to pay for the terrace disaster, but other than that, it was fine. And people were impressed with her." Ed gave his point of view. "I only have a few things to fix with the media." he added, clearly talking about the fashion part.

"I see..." he said unsure.

"Should we head to work?"

"At this hour? We have lost the whole morning, Eddie." Cobblepot wondered after peering at Iris´s saddened face. It was clear that she missed the family time they had before. "Just call in sick. ´Let´s stay here, only for today." he smiled at their hummingbird. Her thrilled face was worth it.

"Alright. You are the boss. And the wife." Ed sighed.

That debut event hadn´t been a disaster after all, it had _many_ positives outcomes… Only _one_ of them was that Iris came to understand what she felt performing in public and so with this she discovered that singing and acting would make a good dream to achieve in her future.


	12. Chapter 12: The Hummingbird's Gift

**A/N: hello lovely readers! Did u like the surprise on dA? Hope so! And I´m glad that u all forgave me too. :) This chapter is to celebrate the wonderfully nygmob 3x15! It didn´t disappointed! Ed soooo needs Os in his life and knows it now hehehe!**

 **Well, let me explain the timeline canon x the one in TPAH now: despite the events regarding (the lack of)nygmob (a.k.a. miss clone, Ed shooting Os etc), I´m considering some of the other story lines happening in this universe (I won´t use them or deal with them, but I may need to cite them somewhere), still, no drama allowed, it´s just so you can know in which part of the series we are here despite having married-with-a-kid-nygmob. Aaand I´m considering the time between the seasons 1 and 3 here, because we can´t be sure of how many time has passed since the series started inside the plot. Just to clarify. So forget all about the 'war', the new alliances, the CoO, and everything in between, at least here.**

 **No more slacking, let´s go to the story! Love to all of you, enjoy this dose of medicine on your heart veins! I present you with unicorn serum! Besides, use it to forget that now Oswald wants to kill Ed, what happened to Gabe (poor guy) and all that in 3x16.**

 **PS:I guess I got carried away with the length hehehe**

Chapter 12: The Hummingbird's Gift

"Okay, Steven. How about you be a good servant and answer what we want to know? So we won´t need to slice you!" mayor Cobblepot stared at the scared chamberlain while playing with a knife.

"W-What are… Y-You talking… About… Mr… Mayor? I mean… Mr Cobblepot-Nygma?" the youngster stuttered Oswald´s married name.

"Are you really asking this?! Did you hear him, Eddie?" he looked at the servant as if he couldn´t believe that he had said something so dumb.

"Ossie… Is this really necessary?" Ed sighed worriedly. "You are going too far to get a simple answer."

"You… Think so too, Mr… Nygma-Cobblepot?" he looked at Ed with some hope.

"I won´t deny that I´m pretty sure that you know where our bee-hummingbird is, but to use a knife is a different matter."

Yes, this was the source of that spring morning´s problems: Iris was nowhere to be seen inside the mansion. Her Nutcracker music box was playing inside her room as usual, her wardrobe was a mess and the most weird part: Cory was alone there, laying on her bed as if nothing was happening.

"So answer now then I can call the police and they can start searching for her!" Oswald shouted. He was panicking despite the fact that it had been only ten minutes since this started.

"Oswald, drop the knife and let me handle this, okay?" Nygma suggested. "So, Steven, you were with Iris today, correct? Olga said that you left with her earlier but came back alone."

"Well, yeah, Mr Nygma-Cobblepot." the young Lagunov decided to answer. His life was on the line after all. Even if he had promised to Iris that it would be a secret. "Miss Cobblepot-Nygma really asked me to take her to the park again and I did so, but then she also said that I should come back here, that she would be home later because she had a few things to do there."

"But… Why would she ask you to take her there? She always goes by herself!" the mayor pointed out.

"Yes, my dearest wife, but she does this when we are at work and therefore we can´t be mad at her for going out alone, not that _both_ of us really say anything at all, because you know, _someone_ really is too, too soft with her." he made a snarky remark. "But today we took the day off, so probably being smart as our daughter is, of course because she is my child after all, she wanted to show us that she is responsible enough to ask a servant to take her to the park. Although I don´t know why she sent him home." Ed explained first proudly, then puzzled.

"So you don´t think that I should call the police, that´s it?" the mayor wanted to confirm.

"Yes, Os. I´m sure that she is fine. She is 8, probably she wants some space for herself, she is just expressing her personality. Let´s leave her alone for now and wait for her arrive. It´s a good opportunity, if you think about it."

"An opportunity for what exactly, Ed?" Oswald gave up on the knife and sighed deeply.

"When was the last time we were alone together since Iris came to our lives? Don´t get me wrong, she means everything to me, but any couple needs time without the child sometimes to deepen the bonds and to keep love alive." despite the content of his words, his face kept the same cool countenance.

"If… If you say so!" the embarrassment in Oswald's words and face were palpable. "Fine. We still haven´t had any married couple time, not properly at least." he agreed. "Oh, before I forget. Steve. Get out. Now." he didn´t bother to look at the chamberlain, he was too busy giving Ed the first passionates kisses of their day.

"Certainly, sir." the confused former student simply bowed and left.

It was definitely going to be a long day for them.

In the meantime, Iris was not in the park. Not anymore at least. She was a girl with a mission in mind, and to accomplish her plan she was in front of the GCPD. The weather was much nicer with the winter gone, it was warm, the sky was clear, light blue colored, the wind was a soft breeze and the streets had flowers blossoming everywhere, even in a gray city like Gotham; with no need for coats or boots, her "outfit of the day" was rather simple: a short-sleeved black dress made of cotton with buttons from top to bottom, a frilly dark red headband in her free curly hair, custom-made doll shiny black shoes with short socks, and as accessories she had a red square-shaped purse hanging on her shoulder and the black and pink gemstones bracelet Ed had given her as a Christmas gift on her right wrist. She felt it was time to use it more often to show him her appreciation for the gift. Cory wasn´t with her because he was fast asleep when she was leaving and she didn´t want to wake him up, besides, her loyal feathered partner would be kind of a nuisance in her task, she had to admit, because of his habit of… Pecking. With a deep breath, she stepped in, thinking about her beloved parents.

"May I help you, little miss?" an officer passing by, who barely looked at her, asked.

"Dunno. Can I talk with Captain Bullock and Detective Gordon now, please? It´s important." she kept her cool, applying all the politeness Ed always reminded her to.

"The Captain is in a meeting with the Commissioner at the moment, little miss. But Detective Gordon just arrived. He is on the second floor. If you want to wait here..."

"No, thanks. I can go there by myself." she stopped his talking making a signal with her hand.

"And what a beautiful bracelet you have there, little miss." the officer complimented.

"You don´t know my name, do you?" Iris sighed heavily. She thought that after her "debuting party" every single Gotham citizen knew her, at least that was the intention.

"Frankly, for me you children are..."

"Officer Moore!" a known voice reprehended him.

"Jim!"

"Detective Gordon!"

"Don´t even try to complete that sentence! Is this how you treat the mayor´s daughter?! Really? Do you want to get fired? Because not only is mayor Cobblepot everyone´s employer but Iris is also very dear to me and to Captain Bullock, you know?"

"The… Mayor´s…? Is she… Oh my." he fell speechless. "I knew her face was familiar." then he decided to start again. "I´m so sorry for this bad beginning, miss Cobblepot-Nygma. My head is always so busy with work that I forget people´s names, even important ones like yours! Let´s forget this incident and from now on I will try to help you as much as I can, okay?" the officer apologized quickly.

"Oh, please, everyone here knows you are not very fond of children! And don´t try to fix the situation, it´s too late. Also, what is she doing here?" Jim rejected his speech.

"Well, she was looking for Captain Bullock and for you, sir. She said it was important."

"Is that so?"

"Ask the girl herself, sir."

Iris was silent for too long. Just like when she met Barbara Kean and was too hypnotized by her to answer, she was in a bewitched-like state; she was motionless, her ice blue eyes wide open without blinking and noticeably flaring while staring at him, her cheeks acquiring a rosy shade and she could feel her heart clearly; she was absolutely impressed with the way Jim had talked about her and in her defense; at that moment Iris knew what Ed was talking about when he told her that there were still heroes in the world, and she had always felt that Jim was one of them. He did exactly what she expected from a prince.

"So… What can I do for you today, Iris?" he tried to break her silence.

"Oh, hmm..."she suddenly forgot the main subject. It only made her face more flushed. "Aha, that´s right! I need help to do something so I came here to see if you and Harv can come with me to a place!"she spoke rather rushed.

"I see. From this statement I understand that this is a task that requires an adult with you, right?"

"Yeah..." Iris grew embarrassed.

"Why didn´t you ask Barbara to help you?"

"Because auntie Babs is papa´s friend, she would spoil the surprise!"

"A surprise you said? What exactly is this task you want help with?" this small exchange only made him more confused, or rather, curious about the matter.

"Can we talk about it outside? You didn´t even say that you will or won´t help me. Or if Harv can do it."

"He is kinda busy today, Iris. Being a Captain is no walk in the park, you know? But I can´t let you go wandering by yourself, your… Papa´s speech at the party made that very clear. So, fine by me. Let´s talk more outside." he finally smiled, taking the 'case'.

Soon they were in the streets, walking around the neighborhood until she felt at ease enough to talk.

"So… Tell me what´s the plan." Jim encouraged her.

"I want to find a gift for papa and daddy."

"What? Why do you need help for that?"

"Because you have known them longer than I have. So I couldn´t ask any adult for help, only you and Harv." she explained. "I have literally no idea of what to get them."

"I see. You are right about that, kid. And why do you need a gift today?"

"Today is a special date for them. I heard them talking about it yesterday."

"And what exactly are they celebrating today, may I ask?"her story was becoming more and more interesting.

"It seems like today is the second anniversary of the day they met." Iris revealed.

"What? For real? Wow… The time surely flew. And you are right, this deserves a gift from their adorable daughter. I´m sure that they will be very happy with your consideration."he messed her hair.

"Please, don´t do that." she asked trying to groom it back in place.

"Wait a minute… Iris, do they know you are here?" he looked at her suspiciously.

"No..."she confessed. "Sorry but I planned this last night. Today I woke up earlier than them and left with Steve, so he took me to the park exactly as I demanded and went back to the mansion. Probably by now they already noticed my absence..." she couldn´t help but feel a bit guilty, knowing they had the day off. If it was any other day, she would have wanted to spend it with them as a family, but at that moment she had to find something worth giving them.

"Isn´t it better if we at least let them know that you are fine?" he suggested, worried about what the mayor could do if he thought that his prized child was missing.

"Come on, Jim. I´m sure that they know that I can take care of myself..." seeing the look he was giving her, she completed "okay, I´m too young, but you will take good care of me, won´t you?" she tried to convince him.

"Of course I will! Don´t worry about anything, princess of the city!" the detective determined, thinking that sometimes her phrases were too cute to bear. "And where is your… Bird?"

"He was sleeping when I left. But I´m sure he will be alright without me there. Now where can I find a good gift?"

"You can always go to the mall, so you can see all the types of stores. Or if you know something they would like already..."

"Not really." she cut in. "The mall will work."

"And probably we will have to get lunch while there depending on how how long your search will take." he reminded her.

"Can it be sweets?" she smiled wildly.

"Well… No."

"Oh, we can talk about it when the time comes."

"And it won´t change my answer, I assure you." he sighed. What a stubborn girl she was. "Hey, before I forget. Come here." without a warning, he took her hand. "No wandering allowed. I know pretty well how this ends."

"It was just once!" she blushed heavily. Still, she knew that she would be safe with the most incorruptible guy in the world.

"Yeah, right." he mocked. Then his eyes fell on her wrist. "That bracelet is really stunning. The egghead was right."

"This? Daddy gave it to me as a Christmas gift!" she could still feel the same joy she had felt that day when she opened the velvet box. "It´s one of the reasons I want to find something nice for him and for papa, who gave me a wonderful music box. And they always give me so much stuff too..." she got lost in her thoughts.

"I understand, okay?" he assured her. "It´s amazing that you want to do something for them, especially today. I have never met someone so considerate at your age. And you look way more like yourself today than in that party dress." the detective praised her with all his sincerity.

"Really?" Iris stared at the floor ahead of her. It was going to be a long day, her heart could feel it. She just hoped to arrive as soon as possible at the mall.

However when they arrived, she wished they hadn´t. Because no store seemed good enough in her opinion.

"Iris, there must be something here that you like!"

"Dunno. Like what?" she said uninterested.

"Let´s see… If they like drinking, you could buy some fancy beverage. Or maybe Edward would like a complicated book, perhaps some make up for mayor Cobblepot..."he suggested.

"Maybe I should give them something easy like neckties?" she dragged him along to see a showcase.

"If you ask me, Iris, this only shows that you didn´t want to think about what to buy."

"You are right." she said dejected. "Oh, daddy likes puzzles and things like that!"she cheered up.

"If you can find a really challenging one, I´m sure that he will be happy with it. Edward always wanted to be the smartest guy in the room."Jim smirked at the thought.

"Wait, so you worked with daddy when he was in the police?"this caught her attention.

"Well, we were in different sectors, but he worked on some of my cases, yes."he knew that he had to choose carefully which facts to tell her and how. The last thing Gordon wanted was Iris discovering the crimes that her parents committed. She was just a little girl after all, their past, present or future villainies were his problem, not hers.

"It´s true that he was with a girl back then?"

"Yeah..."he didn´t want to talk about it because it was too hard to not tell what had really happened after. Kristen´s death, then the mysterious crimes that Ed blamed on Jim, the time that he spent in Blackgate penitentiary because of it… Of course he knew that he was contributing to Iris growing up sheltered like he did, not knowing what kind of city Gotham really was, but he had no heart to be the one to ruin it for her. He still lived according to his strong ideals and desire to save the city after all.

"Too bad that she is in heaven. But I don´t see how daddy would be with a girl… His place is with papa." she stated simply. "So do you know anything else that he likes?"

"Well, he also enjoys playing video games, as you already know, making riddles, so a book with them would be a good idea, and I think that he would like some scientific equipment. Does he still deal with chemicals and stuff?"

"You bet. Daddy has a lab inside our home where he takes me sometimes to work a bit. It´s not really my thing but it´s a way to see him more."she explained.

"Well, I guess that he won´t change even if he is now married, working in the city hall and has a family."Jim would never forget what Ed did to him, but it was kinda amusing to see a different perspective about the former criminal.

"Okay, now that we have some ideas for daddy´s gift, what about papa?"

"I admit that I don´t know Oswald to that personal level, but you can go with something that he can use in his office, or something to go with his expensive suits." seeing that so many options were only making her more confused, he tried again "you can always choose an edible gift like a cake or chocolate, you know?"

"Wouldn´t work. I´m the one that likes sweets, them, not so much." she dismissed the idea.

"Okay, let´s take a look at the things you are considering and see what you will really want to get." she was a difficult one in this category, but it still was way more refreshing than his normal days at the GCPD and his normal drama in his personal life.

So James Gordon was signing himself up for a handful of hours with Iris pulling his hand through the mall to check on every one of his former suggestions.

On the other hand, Oswald and Edward had a compromise only with the bed…

"Wow… That was… Pure art." Cobblepot proclaimed resting his head on Ed´s naked chest.

"You know I always do my research to find new ways to give you more pleasure, Os. You deserve every second of it."Nygma kissed his hair.

"I will admit it´s nice to have time for this much… Love. I´m sure that our hummingbird will come back home loud and safe later." he sighed satisfied.

"And you surely remember what today is, right?"

"Another round and I wouldn´t remember a thing, but of course. It´s the anniversary of the day we met when you were just a jittery nervous nerdy loser!"Oswald laughed at Ed´s face. "Okay, you were kinda cute. But what stupid trivia you gave me about penguins that day."

"Yes, I see that now. But at least you thought about me after it, and you still remember what I said nowadays. So I marked you." Ed teased him.

"Oh please, are you saying that the day you met me you were already thinking about marrying me and starting a family?"

"Of course not! I just… Really admired you and wanted to know how to be… Bad."he confessed. "People were so mean to me, I wanted to have my revenge on them. But I did it much later."

"It´s alright, Ed. You took your time, that´s all. And who knows what could have happened if anything was different? Our life had to follow this path until now so we could find our destiny raising Iris and being a powerful couple." he kissed his husband to affirm what he said.

"Speaking of..." he started. "I have been thinking since the day of the party and I made my decision on… _That_ subject." he raised an eyebrow as if he was talking using a secret code language.

"Oh my… Are you talking about…?"Oswald´s grin was huge. He knew exactly what Ed was talking about.

"Yes. It´s time for me to become a professional villain." he confirmed.

"Ed! That´s such fabulous news! Can you imagine how much we will be able to control the crime world together like this? And still secretly terrorize Gotham?!" his eyes sparkled thinking about it.

"Besides, it will make it easier for us to take care of our bee-hummingbird 24/7. But… Of course you will teach me your...Tricks, right, Mr Penguin?" he asked kissing Oswald´s neck.

"Indeed… A fearsome couple in the light and in the dark. Have you thought about a name yet?"

"Do you remember the green question marks I used to do everywhere in my crime scenes?" he saw Cobblepot nod in response. "Well, thanks to that I´m thinking about going with 'the Riddler'." Ed said out loud to test the sound.

"Mr Riddler then, huh? Too befitting despite being kinda obvious. But it can work." the mayor smiled. "Gosh, all this conversation is making me want you again." he whispered seductively.

"As much as I would love to, Os, I need to take out the clothes from the dryer." he stood up.

"What?! Now?!" he couldn´t believe Ed´s priorities.

"Yeah, because we have many more pieces to put there still today."

"Again, why can´t Olga take care of the clothes?"

"Because I know how I like the washing and drying done, Oswald. She would never understand. It´s already too much that I let servants iron it." Nygma said as if he had been insulted. "Now I will be right back." he finished getting dressed and left the room.

"Sometimes I wonder why I married him…" the Penguin complained to himself, frustrated. "Men can be so..."

"OH NO!"Ed screamed from downstairs.

"What did he do now? Who is dead?" the mayor got dressed and went to the first floor. "Come on, Eddie. Let´s just hide the body and..."he stopped seeing what was in Ed´s hands. It wasn´t a human corpse, nor anything resembling it. But Oswald wished it was, because in reality what Ed had done was… "YOU RUINED IRIS´S PLUSH BAT?! IT´S HER FAVORITE TOY!"

"STOP SCREAMING AT ME! I KNOW VERY WELL WHAT HAPPENED! DON´T YOU THINK THAT I´M PANICKING ENOUGH?!" he used the same loud tone, still staring at the destroyed purple bat that had been in the dryer.

"I can´t even believe that you washed it in the machine! Can´t you read the instructions on the tag? It can´t go on the dryer either!" Oswald kept barking. It was going to be a tough situation; Iris loved that toy and there was no way that they would find another one in the whole city to substitute it.

"I´m sorry okay?! Do you think that even a professional villain wants to hurt his daughter´s feelings ripping her precious plush doll? It was a mistake! An accident!"

"Explain that to her when she comes back! Not to me!" he was equally panicking.

"Can this get any worse?"

"Yes..." Oswald stated.

"How can you say that, Oswald? That´s so cold."

"Just look at the window." he pointed out to an open window with Cory landing on it.

"Tell me that he won´t..."the fear that the warbler would fly away was visible in his voice. Two accidents happening to two things that Iris loved were too much to take. How to explain this much to her?

"Calm down. I will try to take him." Cobblepot slowly approached the window and cautiously extended his hand to the bird.

"Oswald! You are the ornithology enthusiast here! Do it!"

"Eddie! Shut up! If you shout like this it will scare him!" but it was the mayor´s loud words that did it. The blue warbler found his way to the world outside. "Not this too!"

"Just great. Two pieces of bad news in one day." Ed was searching in his parenting knowledge for the best way to tell this kind of thing to children and how to help them to cope.

"Okay… We can´t do anything about the warbler, but perhaps the bat can be fixed." Oswald suggested.

"You think? It seems pretty bad to me." Nygma studied the ripped plush.

"Eddie, you know everything about anatomy! You surely know how to sew back the parts of a corpse!"

"It´s not a human body, it´s a toy!"

"Even easier for a genius like you! At least give it a try! I will… I don´t know… Prepare her favorite dishes for dinner so we can give her the news." he decided. Maybe she wouldn´t be so upset if her stomach was full of things like pasta and muffins.

"Fine. It will take more than a few threads, but let´s see what I can do." Ed would give it his best effort. It had been his fault after all.

With this, both went to different rooms, while Cory went to look for his owner in the middle of the city.

And his owner had her tiny hands busy enough going inside every store for research, finding one or two more or less suitable items and exiting to think better and repeating the cycle. After a while, Jim started to get bored, so he suggested a break.

"So, Iris, it´s past lunch time, don´t you think it´s better to stop for now and eat something?"

"Now that you mentioned it..."she thought for a while still holding his hand. "Yeah, I´m feeling a bit hungry now. I guess I had forgotten about it."

"Great. What do you want for lunch then? My treat since it was my idea."

"Now that it´s spring can we have ice cream?" she insisted since the last time in the park he had said no because of the cold weather.

"Iris, this is not lunch!" for a moment he wondered what kind of stuff she was allowed to eat at home, but he had to do the right thing anyway. "Choose something that is real food."

"Fine." she pouted. How was it possible that _he_ was being no fun? "Not in the mood to have… Food. Can it be a sandwich?" she tried, not sure if it would be considered "lunch".

"Actually, yes, this will do. I know where to get it, come on." he was glad that they were able to come to an agreement so fast.

And soon they had got iced teas and sandwiches for lunch and were at a table, unaware of the warbler approaching.

"So, are you going to enroll in school this year? Classes are going to start very soon." Jim started.

"Oh, I think so. Daddy was talking about it last week, but he and papa don´t seem to agree on what school to choose."

"What do you mean?"

"It´s exactly what I said." she took a bite. "They kept saying words like "public", "private", "waldorf", "catholic" and a lot more that I don´t know how to spell. So I have no idea of where I´m going."

"Did you study while you were at the orphanage?"

"Of course, it was where I learned how to read, basic math and things like that." she smiled sadly, a part of her missed the old days in an odd way.

"So going to school will be a new experience for you. So many friends to make and things to learn. I´m sure you will love it."he assured taking a sip from the tea.

"I hope so." she said absent-mindlessly.

"Iris." Jim called her. It was written all over her face that she wanted to say something. "We are friends. If there is something that you want to share with me, go ahead."

"Fine..." she knew it was useless to hide it. "I just wanted to ask how… how have you been lately?"

"Where did that come from?" the detective found it to be a weird question in the middle of a conversation.

"From last time!" she exalted her tone, quickly fixing it because Ed would say that talking loud was impolite. "I mean… When we were on the playground, the last time we were hanging around like this, you were so sad because of something that you didn´t want to tell me..." she sighed. "You promised that you would go back there with me every time that something sad happened, so I wanted to know if you are feeling better today." Iris explained shortly.

"Goodness… Iris..." Jim fell silent. Not in a million years would he have guessed that this was her question, that she had been worrying about him since that day. She definitely took the definition of friendship seriously; and no doubt that she was something special, maybe because she had a loss very early so she was more emphatic than most children? He wasn´t sure why, but she was a source of pure and shiny vitality… A part of him at that moment wished that she could stay small and cute, innocent, unaware of reality forever, while the other wondered what kind of adult she would become if she never changed. Still, she was waiting for an answer. And definitely it couldn´t include the part where he shot Mario, Lee hated him and his uncle Frank just reappeared in his life.

"So…?" she insisted.

"Actually, yes, I have been feeling better lately, thank you." only a part of it was a lie. That morning and afternoon were really helping him to take a break, so was her "sunshine" presence.

"I´m happy to hear that!" she gave her best smile to this.

"And have you decided on a gift?" Jim went back to the real reason why they were there.

"I think so. I wanted to see..."but her sentence was cut by a bird landing on their table. "Cory!" she exclaimed surprised.

"Hey, look who came after you! Wasn´t he in your home?" he asked just as taken aback as she was.

"Yes. But I guess that he can fly by himself through the city! Oh Cory, why did you come here now?" she asked him, receiving a loud chirp in response.

"Probably he missed you and wanted to be here to go shopping too."

"Well, yeah, probably. But it doesn´t matter now. Let´s go back to the stores."

"At least hide him inside your purse."Jim remembered. No animals were allowed at the mall.

"Oh, right! Come here, Cory." luckily it had enough space for the warbler to enter without an issue.

"Now where did you want to go again?" Jim stood up and they started the search again.

"The two stores we saw before stopping to lunch."

"Wait a minute. Iris, I didn´t ask until now, but what did you bring to use as a payment method?"

"Easy!" she giggled. "This." she got a card from her purse.

"Iris… This credit card belongs to Edward!"

"Well, it´s the one papa said that I can use when I need to. He even taught me how this works!" she answered proudly.

"Okay… If the mayor said so." he gave up. Oswald was definitely a soft parent.

When evening was near, she finally bought what she thought was suited for them: for Ed, a many-tools-in-one-system, a pocket knife with every kind of tool slotted; for Oswald, a dark denim chambray pocket square, that would go with any of his suits.

"Do you think that they will like it?" she asked unsure.

"Why wouldn´t they? Not only did you get really cool gifts, it´s from you! Anyone would like it."

"So… Would you like a gift from me too?" she questioned blushing slightly.

"Certainly." Jim answered without a doubt.

"Then… Here." nervously, she gave a bundle to him.

"You… Bought something for me? Really?" that little girl never ceased to amuse him.

"Yes… To thank you for this day."she looked away from him.

"You didn´t have to. I came with you because I wanted to do it. You are my little friend and it´s my duty to protect girls like you too. But even so, let´s see what is inside." the curiosity got the better of him. "It´s a leather folder! So soft… And the color is beautiful too." the folder was made of ivory colored leather, just perfect to archive files.

"I couldn´t help but notice that the briefcase you use in the GCPD is kinda worn, so..." the words trailed off.

"Oh, Iris… I don´t know what to say." he was starting to feel emotional. Harvey would be so impressed with this story. Still, probably he would tease him. "For now all I can say is thank you. I will make sure to use it starting tomorrow." breaking her rule, he ruffled her hair again.

"Y-You are welcome." she found no strength to complain.

"Well, let´s take you back home now. Your parents will start worrying."

"Yes."she willingly gave her hand to him, satisfied with the conclusion of the day.

Before her arrival, Nygma and Cobblepot were running against time to make their "compensations".

"Do you have the marshmallow fudges?" Ed asked in a hurry.

"Yes. And did you get the cheese muffins?"

"Of course. How about the carrot soup?"

"Check. Chips? Fairy cakes? Macaroni and cheese? Beef stew? Apple crumble? Caramel pecan pie? Easter brownies despite not being Easter?" Oswald wanted to verify in order.

"Check all of these. All ready. I´m kinda surprised that she has that many favorite dishes now." Nygma noticed.

"Yeah, her taste is really expanding. She is growing up so fast." the mayor suddenly felt the urge to cry.

"Not again, Os. She is still 8, okay? We will enroll her in school but she is growing up normally." Edward corrected him.

"I know, don´t ruin my moment! Why did I even..." he stopped when the doorbell rang. "Oh my, it must be her! How is the plush bat?"

"The best I could do, but I don´t know if she will accept it."

"Let´s do it." he inhaled deeply, and both of them went to welcome her. What they weren´t expecting was that she wasn´t alone…

"Welcome back-" Oswald stood frozen in place.

"Hello mayor Cobblepot, hi Ed." Jim greeted them, half mocking, half really saying hi.

"Gordon."

"Jimmy." their mood turned sour fast.

"Papa! Daddy!" not noticing it, Iris greeted them smiling normally.

"Where were you all day, hummingbird?" Cobblepot asked still glaring at the detective.

"I was at the mall. With Jim. I had to get something there, for you and daddy."

"And why was he there?"

"Because I needed an adult to take me. Auntie Babs would spoil the surprise and Harv was too busy!" she explained not seeing any problem.

"I see." the air was still cold there.

"Well, I´m glad that she was so safe the entire day. So thank you, Jim." Ed managed to say. He just wanted to end that awkward meeting.

"It was my pleasure, Ed. I will let you have your family time now." he smirked at him. "But before I go..." he bent down to be on Iris´s level. "Hey Iris, thanks again for the gift and for the fun day. I will make sure to buy you something in return next time." then, as if to irritate Nygma and Cobblepot, he kissed her forehead, making her go all the shades of red.

"I LET YOU LIVE LAST TIME! YOU WON´T BE SO LUCKY TODAY!" the Penguin tried to attack him, but Ed held him.

"I guess I´m going now." Jim simply left, still laughing.

"Hm… Papa?"

"Yes, bee-hummingbird? What were you saying?" he went back to normal as if nothing had happened.

"That I went to the mall because I wanted to buy something for both of you for today."

"For… Today?" Ed asked. "Oh… Hon, you are talking about the anniversary of the day we met?"he smiled fondly, finding his child to be the most adorable being in the universe.

"Yes, I heard you two. And I wanted to give you a gift because you do so much for me."

"Os, did you hear that?" Edward was the first one to hug her. Soon he was joined by the mayor.

"Yes, I did. And we are so lucky to have you, Iris."

"Here." she got the two packages.

"Multi-tools huh? I definitely will find many uses for it." Nygma smiled thinking about his career as a villain.

"A chambray pocket square? So… Elegant. I was really looking for something to use with my new navy blue suit!" Oswald felt like he was about to cry again. It wasn´t about the gift, which he really loved, but all the thought, and for it being from her.

"Thank you, bee-hummingbird!" both said at the same time.

"It´s nothing that special..." she smiled timidly.

"But it was from you, our dear daughter!" Edward pointed out. Just like Jim had said.

"And it came from your heart, that´s the best part!" Oswald completed.

"If both of you are happy, I am too." she smiled genuinely.

"Oh, and let´s have dinner. We have all your favorite dishes today!" Cobblepot remembered.

"Yes! That´s right!" suddenly Edward also was reminded of the bad news for her.

"What? It´s a special date for you, but still we will have my favorite food?"

"Yeah, because we love you and we knew that you would be doing something really special today!" the mayor lied.

"Oh, okay!" she ate his words.

Not as much as she ate the dinner, both salty and sweet dishes. It seemed almost like a crime to them to ruin her mood by giving the news to her, but the sooner, the better.

"Hey, hummingbird." Oswald called.

"Yes, papa."

"We have something to tell you..." his own heart was breaking with it.

"Sure. Go ahead."

"You see, it´s about your bird, Cory..."

"Oh my! I forgot all about him!"

"The window was open and..."

"Cory! Sorry I forgot you in my purse!" she opened it and he flew out.

"What?! He was with you all this time?" he couldn´t believe in his eyes.

"Not all the time. He arrived at my lunchtime. I think that he left to look for me." she explained while putting the warbler to eat on the table. "But what were you saying, papa?"

"Nothing important, hummer. I even forgot!" he forced a laugh.

"Well, I have something to say regarding your purple bat, hon." it was Ed´s turn. He was feeling terribly guilty.

"Oh, what happened, daddy?"

"An accident inside the washer and dryer. He got really… Hurt." he tried to use the most child-like language.

"No! How is he?" concern washed her face.

"I tried my best to save him, and you know I´m a former forensics scientist. So..."

"Can… Can I see him?" she asked.

"Well… I guess so." he got the plush from its hiding spot: under the table. It was no longer what Iris knew; the bat had many "scars" stitched with different colors of thread, some buttons were used in his belly to hold the tissue together, half of his face had to be fixed with red tissue, his wings were covered in black tissue and unable to save his eye, Ed gave him a dark red eye-patch on his left side.

"He looks so..." Iris was searching for the right words. "So much cooler! Thanks, daddy!" her bright smile sent his worries away.

"Do you like it that way?" he was too surprised yet.

"Yes! And you did this for me! No one else has a bat like that one!"she hugged her toy and her daddy.

"Thank goodness." Oswald sighed in relief. Everything had worked out fine.

And the best gift the hummingbird gave them wasn´t even the material, but the happiness she brought them daily and equally received being loved by the couple of villains and city hall workers.


	13. Chapter 13: Little Red Riding Iris (AU)

**A/N: Hi everyone, my wonderful readers! Sorry the delay but I had to prepare something extra-special to compensate the season finale. I know it was not that long since the last AU-fairytale chapter but after thinking a lot I came to the conclusion that THIS would be the best option. Now forget a bit about frozen Ed, all the dead characters and etc to come with me to this Wonderland with our favorite family! I will be glad to know that you appreciated this little dose of medicine, a magical serum this time with a lot of Batman universe references. Enjoy and give me feedback ;) Warning for kinda-bloody scenes just like in the Cinderella story.**

 **TIP: if you are having a hard time while reading, imagine the animals with their human looks but with the animal features like ears, tails and so on.**

Chapter 13: Little Red Riding Iris (AU II)

Once upon a time in Gotham village, there lived a Polish girl, as beautiful as a flower inside and outside. Her parents were the owners of the whole place, including its lake and forest. They lived in the biggest cottage out there, and they loved the little girl with all their heart, so much that her daddy gave her a very special gift: a red dress with a cap made of velvet, that she wore all the time, which is why everyone in Gotham called her 'Little Red Riding Iris'. On a wonderful spring day, she was summoned by one of them, who was named Oswald Cobblepot-Nygma. He was a man with a weird taste for Gothic clothes and more recently, dresses, bringing upon himself the role of wife and mother.

"Hummingbird, can you and this rude warbler of yours come here?" the man, also known as Penguin, called from the kitchen.

"Yes, papa. I mean, mother." Iris entered with her best friend, a blue warbler whom she had named Cory, who was not exactly known for his good manners, specially during the meal times.

"Dearest, it really doesn´t matter what you call me. I´m your daddy´s wife anyway." he sighed, wiping his hands on his purple apron.

"That´s why you wear dresses now?"

"Not dresses, but finely handmade dresses, hummer. Not only are they more comfortable than a hot suit, but also I look amazing in them!" Oswald answered rather impatient with her sassy ways. "And don´t question me, or I will have to send you to your room." he warned.

"Mother is so pretty!" she quickly answered with a smile, knowing it would improve his mood right away.

"Well… Thanks dear." he couldn´t resist the compliment. "Anyway, we are wasting time here. I have a task for you."

"Okay! What do I have to do?" Iris was the kind of person who loved being useful.

"I need you to take this" Oswald gave her a basket covered with a red and white checkered cloth. "to your daddy. It´s his lunch, he is too busy to come home to eat today. Sometimes I wish I could freeze him so he would stay here all the time. You remember where he works, right?"

"Yes, it´s at Blackgate Lake, right? Where he has that small house for making science and stuff."

"Exactly. But to check if you can do it, which path are you going to take?"

"The one that isn´t the Arkham path. Even if it has a shortcut." she answered, remembering what kind of story her daddy used to tell her about this road.

"Correct. Now get that bird and go." he was straightforward with his order.

"Wait, can I at least know what I´m carrying?" she asked with acute curiosity.

"It´s simply gingerbread, honey cakes, wine and a bottle of our golden honey."

"When did we get so much honey?"

"It´s your aunt Ivy´s work, hummer. Her bees worked wonderfully this time. Probably because of the flowers she grows in our garden."

"Can I stop at the garden to get some flowers for daddy then?"

"Fine." he sighed. "Do whatever you want, but don´t make Eddie wait for too long. And watch out for the bears." he added worried about his only daughter.

"Don´t you mean, the wolves, mother?" she tilted her head, puzzled.

"No, in your case, I mean the bears. You have honey there with you, bee-hummingbird." he explained.

"I see… But why don´t you go with me?" she insisted.

"Because my injured leg is killing me today, and you are Eddie´s honeybee, so go give some honey to him!" Oswald led her to the door, pushed her to the outside and closed it, otherwise she would stay and ask more questions. "Steve!" he called, and soon a young male with peach-colored dog ears and tail appeared.

"Woof! Yes, master Cobblepot?" he barked.

"Keep an eye on Little Red Riding Iris. She will probably disobey me and take the Arkham way." he instructed the family´s house-dog.

"Yes, sir. I´m loyal to you after all. Woof! Woof!" with this, he ran outside.

"Come on, Cory, let´s do it. But keep your eyes open, that gang of stray cats may be watching us now!" Iris reminded the bird, who just chirped twice. Iris was talking about four cats that were always trying to eat Cory up, named Selina, Barbara, Tabitha and Butch. "Oh look, it´s aunt Ivy right there! Heeeeey!" she tried to get the attention of a red-haired young woman who was pruning a rosebush with yellow flowers.

"Hi there, Iris. Want to help me here?" she asked with a bored sigh.

"Sorry, aunt, but I can´t. I´m going to see my daddy. I just wanted to gather some flowers before leaving. By the way, great job with the bees, we got a lot of honey." Iris praised her.

"It was my pleasure, dear niece. Now if you wish for some flowers for Edward, I suggest you to take these pink peonies. They are fresh and exuberant today. By the way, did you know that peonies have the ability to return spring after spring for 100 years or longer? Magical, huh?" this subject always made Ivy passionate.

"Indeed." Iris agreed.

"Not only that, but they represent honor and wealth, I´m sure that he will love it." Ivy added proudly.

"Thanks, aunt Ivy! Now I have to go! I don´t want daddy to starve because of me!" she put the flowers inside the basket.

And with this, Little Red Riding Iris started her journey, still not willing to trust any wolf, not to mention the bears, unaware that their dog was right behind them. Unfortunately, a bunch of cats were also watching their steps closely…

"Meow… The warbler is so chubby…Purr..." a dark-skinned female with caramel colored cat ears, tails and paws looked at the bird.

"I know, right, Tabby? Today he is going to...Meeeow... be ours."the yellow-fur cat, Barbara, agreed with a weird sparkle in her eyes.

"So, do you have a, meow, plan?" the cat with brown tail and ears, Butch, asked.

"I doubt it, if her plans were good we would already have had him as dinner! Hiss!" the youngest one, a female cat with the black fur, smirked.

"Can all of you shut up?!" Barbara demanded. "Meow Selina, yes, I have a plan. You all heard where she is heading, no?"

"Of course, she is going to Blackgate Lake." the only male among them answered.

"So, it´s rather simple. Butch and Selina, keep following them, while Tabby comes with me, we will arrive at the Lake before them. Let´take the shortcut. We will make a good old ambush. Purrfect." she revealed. "So you two, make sure that they will take the Iceberg Lounge way."

"But meow, isn´t the longer way where the grrrrrumpy bear lives?" Selina remembered.

"So what? Are we afraid of that bear with a hat? No, never!" she forced a laugh. "Now, everyone, GO! Hiss!" she yelled and they all dispersed.

"Oh no. I need to catch them before this happens! Woof!" Steve, who had witnessed the whole conversation, went after them, ready to stop the gang.

Iris and Cory walked through the Forest of Owls happily singing and skipping, until they were stopped by a wolf, right before they arrived at Arkham way, just what Oswald told them not to do.

"Stop right there, little one!" the wolf had dark golden ears, tail and blue eyes.

"See, Cory? I told you we would find a bad wolf in our way! Just great! Now we won´t arrive at Blackgate Lake!" she complained.

"Wait a minute, missy. Did you just call me bad?" the wolf seemed something between surprised and offended.

"Well, yeah, you are a wolf and..."

"No way! I won´t stand here letting you bring all your prejudice upon me, and badmouthing someone that you don´t even know!"

"I´m… Sorry?" she said uncertain. That wolf was weird without a doubt.

"You should be! I just saved a family of birds from a fire, helped a squirrel to recover her purse from a bunch of thieves and even read a book for the orphans!" he listed all his good deeds of the day.

"Okay! I get it! You are not bad. Accept this as an apology, please." still dizzy with all that was happening, Iris took a flower from her basket and offered it to him.

"Fine. I will." the wolf accepted the gift and finally smiled.

"But if you are not the big bad wolf, who are you?" Iris looked at him quizzically.

"I´m glad you asked. I´m Jim, the big good wolf!" he answered cheerfully.

"But then why did you stop me? By the way, everyone calls me Little Red Riding Iris. This is my pet bird, Cory."

"Nice to meet you. And I was trying to stop you from going through the Arkham way! Don´t you know it´s dangerous?"

"Well, mother said I shouldn´t go over there, but it has a shortcut..."she tried to explain.

"That´s not a good excuse, miss. I don´t know where you are going, but to pass through the Forest of Owls, you should always choose the Iceberg Lounge way." he didn´t accept her motives.

"But… Isn´t this one the way where the winds are colder?"she tried again, not wanting to use the longer way.

"Come on, it won´t kill you! You have a cap."

"But I´m heading to Blackgate Lake! It´s far from here!" she told him exactly where she was going.

"Fine, I get it. I´m going to join you then! Let´s go together, you will see that nothing bad will happen!"Jim decided.

"Whatever." she had learned this expression from Ivy.

They journey went smoothly for a while, despite Cory pecking on Jim, trying to protect Iris. They didn´t know they had two cats and a dog on their tails, nor that they would soon meet another fellow…

"So, who are we going to visit?" the wolf started some small talk.

"My daddy. I have his lunch right here. It´s all made of honey. And I gathered the peonies for him too."

"It´s nice that you love him so much, it´s a really considerate thing to do, walking this much only to deliver this basket."

"Of course I do! My parents are everything to me. They love me as much as I love them." she explained as if it was an obvious thing.

"I see… I wish I still had my father with me." he sighed sadly.

"What happened to him?" Iris asked despite feeling it was a hard topic to talk about.

"The bad owls. They plotted to murder him."he managed to say.

"Oh, I´m sorry, Mr wolf."

"Jim."

"What?" she was taken aback.

"That´s my name. Jim. Not Mr wolf." he smiled softly.

"Right." Iris grew embarrassed. "I… Hope he likes the flowers." she changed the subject.

"He surely will. They are stunning. Where did you find them?"

"They are from our garden. My aunt Ivy takes care of the flowers and of the bees too. So we make our own honey." she explained rather proud of her family.

"Pretty amazing if you ask me, Iris." he complimented genuinely.

"Thanks, Jim." she exclaimed with her brightest smile.

Before the wolf could say anything else, another weird figure jumped out:

"Roar! I smell honey!" declared the grizzly bear. His most distinguished feature was that he wore a brown hat.

"Oh no! Just like mother said! A bear!"

"Wait a minute..." Jim looked closely at the bear. "Harvey? Is that you?"

"Hey, if it isn´t good old Jimmy!"the bear exclaimed joyfully. "What are you doing here? Do you have any honey? Or maybe doughnuts?"

"Do you two know each other?" Iris was totally confused.

"Are you kidding me, girl? We are best friends!" the bear answered.

"Oh my..."the situation only grew more complicated for her.

"So, Jimmy, who is she? A new girlfriend? But isn´t she kinda young?"

"What? No! I just joined them to go to Blackgate Lake! Goodness..."he couldn´t believe what he heard.

"Yeah, we just met like, one hour ago!" she added, flustered.

"That´s my bad then. But hey, do you have honey or not?" Harvey asked again.

"I do, but it´s all for my daddy´s lunch."

"Come on, can´t you share with a hungry bear?" he insisted.

"Harvey, my only certainty is that you had lunch three times already. I know you." Jim sighed.

"Objection!"

"This is not a trial, Harv. If it was, the Executioner Fox would be here."

"Can I have my honey now? I have been waiting forever!" the bear complained.

"Fine! I can give you some honey if you come with us. And help us to avoid the stray cats."Iris gave up.

"Deal!" he agreed quickly. "Isn´t the more the merrier?"

"Yeah..." Jim said unsure of it. With this, they continued the journey, now with a group of four, through the Iceberg Lounge way.

"Meow… Meowonderful… They took the longer way!"Selina laughed.

"I know, meow… Maybe we can even get the bird before arriving at the Lake!" Butch commented.

"Going somewhere, cats?!" a third voice barked.

"Crap." both of them stated, seeing the house-dog.

"Nothing personal, woof! I just follow the orders from the Cobblepot-Nygma household." Steve grabbed both of them by the tails. The dog made sure that Iris´s group wasn´t being followed anymore.

Meanwhile, at Blackgate Lake:

"Weird… Oswald said he sent Iris more than one hour ago. Where is that girl anyway?" a man in a green sweater said to himself. "I hope she isn´t fooling around." he adjusted his glasses.

"See, Babs? He is still all alone, meow." the Tabby cat spoke from their hiding spot.

"Who? The cold fish? He is that girl´s daddy? I hoped Oswald would choose someone better."

"What matters here is that we arrived before them. Let´s wait here. When they pass, I´m going to use my whip to get the warbler."

"I think it´s better if we wait until we see Selina and Butch, so we will be ready to surprise them."

"Well, you are the boss after all."

Little did they know that Edward Nygma wasn´t alone there. Outside his working house, he had companions: a pair of hunters, an older looking man who was the master and a young boy, his pupil.

"So, are you still after that bunch of cats, Alfred?" Ed asked with interest.

"I will always be looking for them, Edward. They need to be taken down one by one."

"But… Not all of them are evil." the boy commented.

"Bruce, not again..." he sighed tired. "I know you are interested in the one with black fur, but the four of them are criminals. It´s a fact."

"I wouldn´t be able to shoot them, master Pennyworth."

"Yet. And remember, we don´t do this for pleasure, it´s our job. Besides, we don´t need to kill them. If we can arrest the gang it will be good enough."

"Yes, I understand..."the boy agreed dejected.

"I heard they are after Iris´s warbler." Ed stated coldly.

"Well, she is coming here, right? We will be sure to keep our eyes open, no cat will come near."Alfred promised.

"Like the ones that are hidden right there?" Bruce said after hearing something moving behind the trees.

"Precisely." the older man got his gun.

Not far from there…

"I can hear the water already, guys! We are almost there!" Little Red Riding Iris smiled in relief and Cory chirped loudly.

"Iris, is the man I´m seeing from here Edward Nygma?" the wolf asked in disbelief.

"He is my daddy, so… Yes!"she ran to see more closely.

"Oh boy… This is awkward." the bear laughed.

"Shut up, Harv."he glared at him.

"Hey! Daddy!" Iris approached Ed and hugged him.

"Hi honeybee! You finally arrived!" Nygma kissed her cheek. "And with some… New friends?"

"Oh, that´s right! Daddy, they are Jim and Harvey, I met them on my way."she made the introductions.

"I assure you, hon, that we have already met." he stated not wanting to go into details, since his relationship with them wasn´t exactly an amicable one.

"Really? What a coincidence!" she grinned even more, clueless about the truth. "And who are those two men and what are they dragging?"

"These are my hunter friends, dearest. They just got lucky and found a prey!"he lied, not wanting his precious daughter to see the evil cats. "So, did you have any trouble in your journey?"

"Not really, things went so well, even Cory was safe!"

"I´m glad to hear that, and I thank you both, Jim and Harvey for accompanying her." he bowed politely.

"It was our pleasure, Nygma. She is a really nice girl."Harvey answered before the wolf.

"She sure is. And she is super smart too, of course, she is my child! So, what do you have here for me, honeybee?"the proud smile stayed glued on his face.

"Well, I have the honey goods and some peonies too! Aunt Ivy gave me them!"she showed the open basket.

"Really? How lovely, hon. Thank you. Perhaps you and your friends will join me for lunch?" Ed offered.

"Yes! Let´s do it!" the bear was quick to say and to grab the bottle of golden honey.

"So, hon, do you know the meaning of the peonies?" ignoring what the bear just did, Edward asked her.

"It means honor and wealth, right?"

"Not only that, but it also represents love between two strangers. Fascinating, no?"

"Is… Is that so?" suddenly she felt embarrassed for giving one to Jim, despite it feeling like the right thing to do. So all she could do was smile.

The group sat down for lunch in the green grass, joined by the hunters. The evil stray cats were never spoken of again, and Little Red Riding Iris being a good girl and obeying her papa/mother, made new friends, especially one that would stick by her side forever. With this, Iris, her family and the animals lived happily ever after.

" _Alright, good work everyone."_

" _Phew, I thought it would never end." Oswald complained._

" _Come on, papa! It was so much fun!"_

" _Yeah, Os… Besides it was your idea to make our hummer happy by enacting 'Little Red Riding Hood' with everyone_ _we know_ _."Ed agreed with Iris._

" _That´s_ _because_ _I´m helping her towards her dream of being a theater actress!" the mayor explained._

" _And she will be a great one when this day arrives!" Jim took off the wolf ears._

" _You… You think so?" Iris blushed, happy._

" _You bet. The scene with the flower was wonderful."_

" _Then...How about all of us go to have some ice cream after everyone is finished changing?"she suggested._

" _ALL of us?" Oswald glared at Jim and Harvey._

" _Why not? The more the merrier, remember?"Harvey repeated his line._

" _Whatever, as Ivy says." the Penguin gave up on trying to argue._

" _I just wish to have a bigger role next time. Still can´t believe that you paid everyone to do this, you are crazy, Pengy." the red-haired girl stated._

" _I only love my little girl too much, Ivy. About your next role, w_ _e will see._ _Let's see if our 'cats'_ _and 'hunters'_ _are ready to go_ _._ _Come here, house-dog._ _"_ _he called Lagunov. Mayor Cobblepot was pretty sure that_ _i_ _t was worth wasting a working day for that if Iris was happy. It was all that mattered in the end._


	14. Chapter 14: Cory's Narrative

**A/N: Let´s see the world through the eyes of everyone´s favorite black-throated blue warbler. It may be short, but it´s also insightful and really "birdful", it´s all told using his P.O.V.**

 **I won´t ask for you to stop your playlist, but if you want a suggestion of music to listen to while reading, search on youtube for "Celestial Garden", by Brandon Fiechter and/or "Emerald Falls", by Derek and Brandon(Fiechter), just to name a befitting soundtrack.**

 **As usual, a huuuuge thank u for my proofreader AB-chan and my lovely readers :) I know this chapter wasn´t what you were expecting but I felt like spreading a positive message.**

Chapter 14: Cory's Narrative

I opened my eyes suddenly and flew to the front of a mirror in this scary forest that Iris calls a room. I really don´t know what the hay her parents were thinking when they allowed this… Or maybe I know, the "papa" one will do pretty much anything for her, like, really spoiling her rotten as they say, so there´s nothing that the "daddy" one can do about it. And let me tell you this, they are rich but super weird too, I mean, they call Iris a hummingbird, I have seen dozens of them at the park and she definitely doesn´t look like one.

Time to face the mirror, it looks like it´s made of oak branches with a glass, it definitely matches this dark forest. The first thing I see is… Maybe I need to shed some pounds, my belly is round and white, this wouldn´t happen if I were eating insects and sometimes fruits, like I´m supposed to be; instead I have been eating basically anything they have in the kitchen together with the family. The big maid with a weird accent doesn´t allow me to stay there but Iris always brings me some good "hooman" food. Also my feathers… They really need some grooming, luckily I have a piece of wood near my bed, and by this I mean the pillow next to her own bed. Iris may be my best friend, and we bonded really quickly, but she is such a weirdo too! She looks like a princess of dark stuff or something, just like her papa in his black suits, not to mention how she sees and treat the staff here, that young one called Steve is practically her slave! Did I mention that she is always picking a fight with the big maid? And it always ends in the same way, with Iris screaming "He is my daddy, not yours! I will deal with him, not you!", craziness huh.

Well, it´s Sunday morning, a sunny, sunny day. I know this because yesterday I heard daddy one saying something about today being Sunday and that they were going to watch a movie, also that they are going to visit schools on Monday. So I stayed home by myself. Other than sing my lazy, buzzy song, there´s nothing else that I can do secluded away here… So… What harm can I do if I go out for a flying training session in Gotham? Alright, time to find my secret window, the one I used when Iris went shopping with that detective without me, I really dislike that guy, ugh. I reaaaaaaally don´t know what she sees in him. Oh, right, the window. Here it is. At times like this I´m grateful for being a wild bird, or my wings would be clipped.

Ready? Fly. The sky is so clear and the sunlight so warm… It´s a great day to fly indeed. I passed some gray buildings and I can already see the park, but first… What, or rather, who is this one that I´m seeing from here? It´s the blonde woman Iris calls auntie! And she is chatting with a scary woman and a big man, I wonder if they are all friends, it´s nice to have someone to talk to, sometimes I miss seeing other warblers. But that´s not how my life is now.

I think I´m going to visit my old nest since I´m here, I never had the chance to go back there, and yes, I´m aware that I chose to go home with her. Oh, I can see it already, it´s just like I left it, or rather, how my mother left since male warblers don´t build nests, we just supply materials, even the egg shell is here still. I feel nostalgic sitting here again, I ask myself several times where are my parents and brothers, we were seven warblers after all. I was the smallest and the more scared too so I ended up alone here. Actually when Iris and those two cops found me I was…

Wait, wait a minute. Look who I´m seeing now on the street! If it isn´t Iris, daddy one and papa one! Probably they are going to have ice cream or something. And to make things more interesting, the two cops are there too! Oh boy, this I have to watch for sure! I just need to get closer to listen to their conversation.

"Well, what a surprise. It´s our family day and who should I meet, here of all places? The dynamic good-boys duo!" the papa one sneered at them.

"And if it isn´t the mayor, the first man and our sunshine!" the one with a hat faked a smile.

"Hi, what are you doing here, Harv?" Iris greeted him, not feeling the cold air, again. She is so naive. I´m her friend, I can say this. Then her eyes were drawn to the pretty-boy detective. Like always, Iris is totally fawning over him. "And Jim! What a great surprise!" yeah, her parents definitely don´t feel the same way.

"I bet we are not here for the same reason, Iris. I can see that you came for a good walk with your family and we are here for a clue. But it´s always nice meeting friends." he patted her head and she couldn´t hide the smile. I can see that papa and daddy one want to kill him now. Please, even I think this is utterly ridiculous, it´s like he is literally mocking them. Still… I can´t help but think about her friendship with the two cops, especially her huge little girl crush on the one called Jim. I have to admit that they have a genuine bond of friendship even with her being a child, but I know that she won´t be a girl forever, I just hope her parents know it too. Because I can say that those two are like birds of a feather. Do you know what that means? That they are alike, they hang together, but more than that, it means they are a fortress made of feathers, no one could break them apart. I get the feeling that he is like a prince to her and she is like an angel to him. I know it´s too early to say this, but the future will be really interesting for this group of five, I hope I will be here to see this happening. Even if it means having to be on familiar terms with… Him. Whatever makes Iris happy, I guess.

Jim and Harvey are indeed a dynamic duo too. I can see that no matter what happens, they stick together to overcome the issue, and that they compliment each other, it´s like the perfect case of best friends, no, more like a family. Iris´s parents? They are a really strong couple. Hopefully all of them will get along when the time comes. And when it happens, Iris won´t be wearing her completely black doll outfit, after all, this is just something from her childhood. I wish I could tag along with them, but not every place accepts birds. Well, I´m sure that she will bring some popcorn to me. And cookies, it´s better she doesn´t forget the cookies! To think that daddy one wants me to eat millet. Pfft.

"What did you just say?" Jim asked in disbelief.

"You heard me. As the mayor, and being the boss of the whole police, I demand you don´t come near her! Just do your job, detective. Isn´t that right, Eddie?" as if this could stop anything. Hoomans are so funny.

"Oswald, now you are talking like a lunatic." daddy one commented quietly.

"Yeah, listen to your husband, Penguin." wait, he is a penguin? I had no idea until now.

"Our first man is really wise indeed." now I can see, the detective is clearly mocking them for his own amusement.

"Fine. I won´t waste our family day with you two. Just go back to work. Now if you will excuse us..." he grasped Iris´s hand and pulled her.

"It was a pleasure to see you too, Oswald and Ed. And bye Iris, we'll talk later." good, that awkward exchange is finally over. Now back to my my flying season and my thoughts.

As I fly towards an alley, I hear some more familiar voices, not to mention I recognize these guns anywhere. That´s right, it´s papa one´s favorite duo of "associates", Gabe and Victor Zsasz. Or should I say, Iris´s super creepy uncles? Uh oh, they are looking in this direction.

"Did you just see Miss Iris´s bird right there? All alone?"

"Our niece would never leave a bird alone."

"Never mind. Warblers are all the same."

Good. They gave up. Time to flee. Not that I think they would hurt me, but they really scare me. Hey, now I can see that red-headed girl talking with a flower. Another weird friend of the family. Anyway, as I was saying, that day a few months ago… Or should I go back to when I was just a nestling?

Right from a creamy white colored egg, I hatched just like any bird, together with my brothers. Not long after, I founded out that I wasn´t like them or like my parents… I was terrible at flying and finding insects to eat, not to mention how much of a scaredy-bird I have been since then. I have always thought how much of a big and uneasy place the world is, especially for small birds like warblers, so I almost never left the nest and relied on my mother for everything, even when I should have left the nest like my brothers did. Some would say I was shy, but I´m not sure if that is the right word… Whatever one wants to call it, the fact is that I was a failure of a bird. So it shouldn´t have been a surprise when my whole family left to migrate through the eastern United States and I found myself as lonely as Iris was at the orphanage. I guess the worst part was the need to start living alone and find my own food and stuff.

I was able to befriend a few other birds so I wouldn´t deal with predators without a group and we used to share some small fruits sometimes, still… I was aware that I couldn´t keep living like this forever, so I tried my best to become an independent warbler as soon as possible. So THAT fateful day in the park, I was trying to catch my own food without any help, but I got in trouble because of a bunch of stray cats, they really caught me by surprise and almost ate me alive, but somehow I managed to escape, maybe it was simply luck… Because now I know that my life was about to change drastically, so I couldn´t die that day.

I was hurt, even if not in a visible way, and hungry, that tree from where I fell wasn´t even the tree with my nest, but it was the farthest I managed to go like this, soon my energy was completely drained and I ended up on the floor. Then Iris saw me and took me from there… I had never seen a hooman up-close before, so I was afraid but I had no option, I would never find any strength to fight back. The whole time I was thinking about how weak I was and that I was going to die one way or another, I had no idea of what awaited me. The cold weather can be ruthless to a small bird. After that long evening that ended with me eating some kind of dough and berries that the detective found, I could finally stand up and chirp, so I tried to thank them, mostly her, for the help. Furthermore, I couldn´t go back to fighting to survive alone, I think my personality hadn´t changed after all, so I wanted to stay with that weird, but kind, girl. So I went to her house and did as much as possible to make myself at home and to adapt to their customs and food, not to mention Iris's way of playing. It wasn´t always easy but nowadays I can say that I´m one of them, part of the wrench, or flock, I´m not sure, with a hummingbird, a penguin and whatever – maybe an owl? -daddy one is.

This leads me to think a bit about something else… I was used to my wild warbler life, even with the bad parts of it, but then, just like the sun coming from a bunch of gray clouds, the little girl appeared to save me and give me a home, which was my deepest wish. What I want to say is that life is like a train, it´s always moving because of the resistance of the rails, and the life´s rails are the challenges and hardships; just like the train arrives at its destination moving like this, things also get better in life after we face difficulties. It was Lao Tzu who said "Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like", so giving up or trying to stop the changes are not options. If we look forward and accept the good, the drastic and the bad changes, just then our dreams can come true. That´s what I learned that day. I regret nothing indeed.

So I can affirm that I´m a happy warbler, and there are many interesting things to happen yet, I can´t wait to experience them all. But for now it´s getting late, I´d better to head back, or else they are going to freak out if they find out that I´m absent when they arrive home. Okay, wings, move again.

I did it, back in the room, at least I can rest a bit before Iris comes back. Or so I thought…

"Cory! I´m baaaack!" she patted my head. "Sorry I couldn´t bring you with me but here, I have sweet popcorn and chocolate cookies for you!" good, she remembered. I just chirped three times to greet her.

"My feathered friend, you will never guess what a wonderful time I had! After watching Snow White we went to get ice cream, even with daddy being against it, he said I would not eat my dinner afterwards, and we met Jim and Harv! Also, coming back we also met uncle Gabe, uncle Victor, Miss Ivy, auntie Babs and a lot of our friends! I´m not even nervous for going to see schools tomorrow!" if only she knew I met them too, but with a different point of view… "I hope you weren´t bored the whole day without me!" she laughed. This, I definitely didn´t.

Well, this food won´t eat itself so I have my black eyes on another matter now. Also I won´t let them visit schools without me, If I have to spend my days with Iris there, it´s better being a place I can enjoy too. And I hope things stay like this, even when the flock gets new members.


	15. Chapter 15: To Educate a Bee-hummingbird

**A/N: hi my dearest readers! First of all, allow me to say sorry for the late chapter and also that I know chapter 14 wasn´t my best one, and neither is this one but it´s a short and necessary chapter too. I hope you can take this medicine smoothly after the first two episodes of Season 4. And I have something to tell you guys. This is the end of the first part of TPAH… Meaning that from now on I will write about a preteen Iris to show the new wonders and challenges of parenting regarding our two beloved Batman villains, as well as for Jim, Barbara and co. So I hope to have your support in this new phase too. See you there! For now, open your mouths ;)**

Chapter 15: To Educate a Bee-hummingbird

Monday finally arrived. Edward Nygma-Cobblepot, who just recently had begun to terrorize the city as the Riddler, wore his newest suit, an emerald-green one, combed his hair in a perfect way, polished his shoes and went down the stairs to pick up the newspaper and have a cup of coffee. He was absolutely ready to start the day. Unfortunately, he was the only one, because his husband and his daughter were late.

"Oswald! Iris! Come on, we need to go now!" he yelled from the kitchen.

"Just a minute, Ed! I´m still picking a necktie! I´m the mayor but I still need to look like a concerned parent! Blue or red with stripes?"

"Either is fine, but remember our first appointment is in one hour and we may end up in traffic! It´s in the public school!" Ed reminded him.

"I was against it if I remember correctly! My child won´t go to public school!" Cobblepot objected.

"Isn´t your duty to make sure that the public school is good?!"

"Enough talking! I will go there when I´m ready!"

"Daddy! Daddy! I´m hungry!" Iris entered the kitchen running, only to end up on the floor. "Ouch!"

"It´s okay, honeybee, no need to cry, alright?" Ed said in advance seeing her teary eyes. "Come here." He took her from the floor. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I don´t think so..." she said despite feeling her knees hurting her. "But my dress..." she pointed out the blue outfit that was ripped in the bottom.

"Oh no, how awful. Look, we have to leave, so change the dress and I will sew this one together later, I promise."

"Fine. But I´m still hungry." she left smiling because she could count on her daddy anytime.

"I will prepare a snack so you can eat in the car." he dealt with the situation like the chief of staff he was. And so he did, putting healthy food in a plastic box: an apple, a cheese sandwich and orange juice. Still, no sign of Oswald and Iris.

"Oswald! Iris! Come on!" Edward complained.

"Hey, no need to yell. I´m right here." the mayor appeared out of nowhere, startling Nygma.

"What took you so long?!"

"The pocket square. And the necktie. I chose the dark blue one, see? Now what about our bee-hummingbird?"

"Here, papa." Iris lurked on them, wearing a black dress with bows, and Cory on her shoulder.

"Wait a minute, are you really going to take the warbler with you?" Ed asked in disbelief.

"Cory." she corrected him.

"Fine. But even so, you don´t need a bird to visit schools."

"But… He is my best friend, and he needs to like the school too." Iris commented disappointed.

"Eddie, let her be!" the Penguin warned.

"Oh my God, are you serious?!"

"Think about it, Ed. Are you really going to make her sad by saying that she can´t have her warbler friend? Her life was hard enough already!" he reasoned.

"Alright! She can take him." Ed gave up, it wasn´t even worth the fight. "But we will leave now."

And so, with Edward in the driver´s seat, the day of visitations started. Not without Oswald and Iris doing everything to drive him nuts.

" _All God's creatures got a place in the choir_

 _Some sing low and some sing higher,_

 _Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,_

 _Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now"_ they sang together.

" _Listen to the top where the little bird sings_

 _On the melodies and the high notes ringing,_

 _And the hoot owl cries over everything_

 _And the blackbird disagrees."_ to Ed´s despair, Cory started to chirp along to the song.

"Iris, weren´t you hungry? Why don´t you eat?" he interrupted them.

"Yeah, that's right!" she got the box. "Don´t worry Cory, I will share with you."

"Finally some silence." Nygma commented as quietly as possible.

"Singing in the night time, singing in the day,

When little duck quacks, and he's on his way" Oswald mocked and smirked at him.

"Don´t. You. Dare. Dear wife."

"Alright, alright. No need to get grumpy. Still, why can´t we go visit that all girls academy first?"

"So that´s your plan? A no-boys school? Really?" Ed asked in disbelief.

"Why not? They would only get in the way of her education!" the mayor defended his idea.

"If it was up to you she would become a nun, isn´t that right, Os?" he sighed.

"This or she will end up in Arkham just like you and me!" he added knowing that was Ed´s biggest fear.

"Not funny, Mr Penguin."

"Okay, so how about we review our list and write down the pros and cons?"

"Sounds good. So let´s start with that all girls academy you want, what was its name again? Sapphire Liberty?"

"Yes, that´s the one. The pros are quite obvious, don´t you agree? It´s a high level institution and no boys in sight." Oswald said with a hint of a smile in his voice.

"Still, that very pro is also a con. How can she learn how to live in society without any male friend of the same age?"

"Well, she will have many other opportunities to do this, she has basically the whole city!" he wouldn´t give up on his ideal school.

"Please, I had the talk about romantic relationships with her already, she doesn´t even know if she is going to like a boy! She is just a child, they have no such desires!"

"Is that so? What about detective Gordon?"Cobblepot reminded him of this with a sour mood.

"It´s a girl´s first love, no big deal." Ed answered with certainty. Luckily for them, the little hummingbird wasn´t even listening to the talk.

"So, Cory, a new school…" Iris sighed. "Of course I´m going to meet new kids and learn a lot of new things, and of course I´m nervous too. It´s been a long time since I was in a classroom… What kind of place will it be? Let´s try our best for papa and daddy, okay?" she scratched the bird's head. Cory chirped in agreement.

"Then, we have that fancy Waldorf school. Cons, it´s hella expensive and too far from home." Edward continued the list.

"But pros, it´s a place full of different activities and they really encourage the make-believe, a thing that our bee-hummingbird loves. It would do good for her dreams."

"Yeah, maybe, but she could work on her dreams at public school too. Besides, she would learn a lot about different people and cultures."

"Eddie, I don´t have that much confidence on public education, and I´m the mayor."

"Let´s give it a chance, Os. We just arrived anyway." he pointed out the building.

With no other option and not willing to give it a chance, Oswald took Iris´s hand while she hid Cory in her bag and they entered the place.

"Good morning, mayor Cobblepot and chief of staff Nygma." a skinny old lady with dark hair greeted them.

"Hello, you must be Susan, right? I talked to you on the phone last week." Ed was the first to talk.

"Indeed. It´s a big pleasure to have both of you here, thinking about choosing our school to enroll your precious daughter." she smiled warmly.

"Excuse me, madam. Let´s make something clear… He wants it, not me. I see no reason why we should pick this place." Oswald said bluntly.

"I see..." she commented uncertain. "But mayor Cobblepot, it´s thanks to your good work that we have such a great public school! Allow me to take your family to a tour so you can see for yourself."

"Say, do you allow animals here?" he asked ignoring the compliment.

"Excuse me again, sir?"

"He is just joking!" Ed interrupted. "Let´s go see the school now."

So with Oswald´s hatred for the school as opposed to Ed´s will, it was a rather quickly visitation. Needless to say, they disagreed about whether the public school was a suitable option or not, so the next one was the Waldorf school, which as Edward said was quite far away and expensive even for a rich family with Elijah's fortune, not to mention how little at ease Iris was there since she found the place so intimidating. They also visited a Catholic school because the orphanage where Iris was found was ran by nuns, but they were no religious people, so it wasn´t a good match. They even considered homeschooling but none of them had the time. The whole picture left them with the all girls school that Oswald wanted, but things weren´t as he expected given that it had an all boys academy next to it and both institutions joined the same events a bunch of times of the year. But what was bad for the Penguin was an opportunity for the Riddler, that saw this as a perfect balance between a fine education and the chance of their daughter to interact and be in familiar terms with different types of children. So he voted for Sapphire Liberty. Oswald hesitated for a long time, but seeing how much the school invested in arts and music and having a feeling that Iris would belong there, all he said was:

"Don´t let anyone see that bird. And give him a bath before classes start. He is really dirty and stinky." with this, she was enrolled there.

Choosing a school was an easy task compared to the first day of school…

"Bee-hummingbird! Come on, you can´t be late! It´s your fist day and I already packed your lunch!" Ed called.

"I´m here, daddy!" Iris appeared wearing the academy uniform. It was a light blue skirt and shirt with a black tie and a black coat. The use of white pantyhose and black shoes was mandatory as well.

"Good. Are you excited for your first day?"

"Very much!"she smiled nervously. "But I´m also kinda anxious, daddy."

"You will be fine, hon. Surely you will make tons of friends and learn everything to be able to achieve your dreams." he assured her. "And here, this will help you to break the ice with the other children."

"What is this?" she took the plastic box he gave her.

"Your lunch, or more accurately, a bento box. It´s a Japanese way of packing healthy food."

"And how is this going to help me there?"

"Look at it closely, hon. It contains flowers made of carrots and cucumber, bunny-shaped apples, octopus sausage and forest pasta. It´s a pretty interesting food to engage a conversation."

"I see… And where´s papa?"

"Weird… I haven´t seen him since breakfast. Oswald! Come on!"

"Coming." the mayor said in a depressed tone.

"What´s wrong, Os?" Edward asked concerned.

"Nothing… It´s just that..." he sighed deeply. "With our hummingbird going to school I feel so… Old."

"How´s that? She is still 8, remember?"

"Papa doesn´t want me to go to school?" she questioned puzzled.

"No! That´s not it, dearest. But it will be so weird taking and picking you up from there, and we will spend so much time apart..."each sentence sounded sadder than the last one. It was going to be a huge drama.

"Oswald, we already work for most time of the day, at least in school she won´t be alone. And we will always have dinner time to reconnect." he argued.

"I know, but it´s different… Gosh, I feel like I´m going to cry!"

"It´s okay, Os. No need to."Ed pulled him in for a hug, soon being joined by Iris.

"Come on, papa, don´t cry. Of course I´m going to miss both of you while I´m away but..." she wasn´t sure of how to complete this phrase, but truth was that it was a necessary thing to do.

"I know and I love both of you!" Oswald finally smiled. "Now let´s go, we can´t have you arriving late. Where´s your bird?"

"Easy, in my backpack."Iris pointed to her bat themed backpack. It was black with bat wings.

"Terrific. Now to the car. We also have to go to work."Ed added.

"I´m going to drive this time."

"Then do you know what this means?"Iris asked excitedly.

" _Singing in the night time, singing in the day,_

 _When little duck quacks, and he's on his way_

 _And the otter hasn't got much to say_

 _And the porcupine talks to himself"_ Cobblepot started.

" _All God's creatures got a place in the choir_

 _Some sing low and some sing higher,_

 _Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,_

 _Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now"_ Iris continued.

" _The dogs and the cats they take up the middle_

 _While the honeybee hums and the cricket fiddles,_

 _The donkey brays and the pony neighs_

 _And the old gray badger sighs"_ Ed gave up and joined them.

Their family was ready to start a new phase with a new school, new friends and new discoveries for Iris, and of course this would bring a new role for Edward and Oswald to fulfill, the work of a papa and a daddy is never over, little did they know that they would face new challenges while trying to parent a hummingbird.


	16. Chapter 16: The Love of a Hummingbird

_**A/n: see the end of the chapter for more explanations. Read this chapter as a prologue to the second part of TPAH, that's why it has three parts with time skips. But if you have a problem with sugar, stay away or you may feel sick ;) but hey, I'm happy to be back here to give you all the medicine I can after that rowdy S4(I hate the creators too now) and getting ready for the S5 vaccines.**_

 _ **Be aware that from now on, this story will be the sweetest slice of life ever made especially to brighten up your day and fulfil your shipper's desires.**_

 _ **Betareading by: Spitfire47. Thanks a lot!**_

 **To Parent a Hummingbird - Part II**

 _ **The love of a Hummingbird**_

 _16.1: I missed you_

"Oh my gosh! Jim? It's really you?" A shaken, female voice echoed through the middle of the city. The feelings it carried were stronger than the cold and biting air of the particularly harsh winter that Gotham was facing.

"Hey, long time no see," the captain of GCPD faced the not-so-familiar-now girl. He smiled. "Little Iris." The sight of his old small friend, not so small anymore: in fact she was almost as tall as her papa, the Penguin, just like him and his husband Edward Nygma aka the Riddler, predicted. Her shoulder length hair was wavy with straightened long bangs, her icy blue eyes and fair skin were just as he remembered. Jim couldn't help but notice that her developed body was slender in an elegant way even sustaining a fairly generous, plump breast area. Though what draw his attention the most after seven years without seeing her, was her flashy outfit.

A tight thigh-length vivid red dress without sleeves that emphasized her hips, tightly laced under bust black leather corset with golden clasps, black stockings, long black vinyl gloves, red high heels covered by glitter and a thin floor dragging black cape on her shoulders. To top it all off were dramatic make-up including black eye shadow and wine colored lipstick.

"You didn't change a bit since the last time I saw you!" she fought the urge to hug him, and he could see it, but he simply patted her head.

"You may be a teenager now, Iris, but there's no need to lie, I know pretty well that I'm almost in my forties." Jim finally broke the ice chuckling. He was almost the same, but of course his face was showing a few signs of aging. "And how old are you now? Fifteen? What's with the party clothes? " he poked her cheek.

"Fifteen indeed, but be aware that now you are talking with the main attraction of the Iceberg Lounge! I'm just heading there by the way." Iris beamed proudly. "Do you remember the place? It's the fancy bar that papa opened with aunt Ivy. Since last year he and daddy allowed me to sing and make performances there every other night and on weekends! I just love it! Besides, it helps to build my acting career better than the school plays or the community theater!"

She felt like the same 8 years old herself talking with detective Gordon and having a little girl crush on him. But after all these years, she was fully aware of what that lingering feeling she had towards him since the first time they met was: it was love.

Iris had a first love with him and getting older it became real infatuation, her heart would always love and cherish him. She had the certainty that only Jim would make her heart flutter and quicken when Oswald told her what his mother told him, during her 13th birthday. He said: "Remember this one advice forever, bee-hummingbird... You will only have one true love. And you must go after this person without giving up."

Iris knew that for Gertrude, this person was Elijah, her grandfather. For Oswald, it was Ed. And her time had come to find out that her destined person was James Gordon. Even if she couldn't do anything about her feelings until she grew up a bit more. But she was so faithful to her heart, that she declined every single declaration of love and invitations for going out at school. Boys would go to Sapphire Liberty a few times a week to try to have a chance with her, even more than with her friends, but with no success. Not that Oswald or her uncles Gabe and Victor would allow her dating anyway.

"Of course I remember its opening, Iris. I have never left Gotham, I have no heart to do it, the city needs me, Bruce and the police." he sighed clearly uncomfortable with her questioning gaze.

"Then how come I haven't seen you in seven years?!" she yelled, angry at him for disappearing of her life and at herself for caring so fiercely.

"Iris, I..." Jim bit his tongue. He couldn't think of a real reason to tell her. It would be hard to disappoint little Iris years before, but now, harder to hurt, even unintentionally, the gorgeous young miss in front of him. "I have no excuses besides being too caught up in chasing the maddest criminals and destroying myself in awful relationships. So, all I can say is that I'm truly sorry." the captain was as honest as he could. Iris deserved the truth for always being a ray of light in his past darkness, and he knew that she would be again if she came back to his life. At least that was his wish deep down.

"I missed you. I really did..." she confessed.

"I missed you too, a lot, actually." he hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead, feeling all the differences between her old and new self and the dissemblance inside his heart that skipped a beat. "So...How is the Peng-" he coughed as she raised an eyebrow. "I mean, how are your parents doing?" Jim changed the subject.

"Jim, if you want to ask about the Penguin and the Riddler, go ahead. They are my parents but are also criminals, I know that." Iris assured him.

"You know?!" he didn't hide the astonishment. Jim was certain that she would grow up sheltered and mistaken about her beloved dads' s character.

"I do. Since I was 12 years old and papa wasn't the mayor anymore." she nodded. "I couldn't understand at first, but I know now that they do bad things sometimes, and that you chase guys like them. Their love for each other and for me is real though, that's what matters. Besides, daddy said I can never be a villain, not that I would want to." Edward made clear for her his biggest fear about her future and prohibited it.

"Wow, that's... Impressive. You have really grown up a lot, and is so smart and dainty now." he complimented, making her blush deeply. "But..." Jim looked around, paying attention to the male passersby that didn't hide the fact of goggling at Iris with their eyes. He was sure that this happened a lot during her presentations on the Lounge too. On top of that, it was pretty chilly outside, so putting together his anger and common sense, he took out his black overcoat and covered her with it. "You should wear it. It's cold and you're too... exposed." he averted his gaze.

"W-won't you need it?" she grew embarrassed touching the oversized coat covering her body, it had his natural scent all over it. She wasn't really cold because her heart beating fast was warming her well enough.

"Not now. You can have it until you want. I can get it back any time." Jim was trying hard to relax his less protected against the cold body.

"So... does this mean that we will meet again?" Iris let the words slip accidentally.

"Of course, I mean, why wouldn't we, right?" he was more nervous about it than he thought.

"Well, I really need to go now, but it was wonderful meeting you again." Iris smiled softly.

"Yeah, it was my pleasure. Maybe someday I will watch your performances."

"I would love it. So, see you." she gave him her shy farewell and went away to the Iceberg, leaving a confused and flushed captain behind, staring at her way until a well-known laugh reached his ears.

"Oh ho, Jimbo! You will need some peanut butter with your jelly! But who can blame you for wanting our sunshine all to yourself after the last disasters?" the Irish man with a hat teased his best friend.

"Shut up, Harvey."

 _16.2: The Hero and the Angel_

When an innocent child Iris went to the park to draw, she found a lost, little blue warbler. She affectionately named the bird Cory, and he became her best childhood friend (not to undervalue Rosalyn, Emily and Melissa, her dearest and best friends since her first year of school to this days). She would never guess that at sixteen years old, weeks before her 17th birthday, she would be mourning the bird's death. Death itself wasn't a foreign concept for her, since she lost her biological parents when she was only two years old. She didn't really remember them and she was so grateful every day for being at the orphanage where Oswald found her that it didn't hurt. But losing a little friend was a shock despite knowing how short the life span of a bird was, even for a healthy one... she wasn't really prepared for it. Iris was completely caught off guard when she found him lifeless in his little bed.

The only thing she could do about it was to bury him in the very same spot they met. Of course it would be nice to have Harvey and Jim with her, because the four of them met the same day, but they were busy, she understood it pretty well. Bullock was retired from the police and was the proud owner of his own Irish pub, his true passion... and Jim was busy being the true and highly praised captain of GCPD. She wouldn't be surprised if he became the commissioner of the whole force, especially since he always helped that boy she met during her debuting party. Bruce Wayne, a hero for Gotham in the last years.

Luckily Edward told her how to bury it discreetly and in a neat way, since it was his expertise area. Oswald insisted that Steven (Oswald called him "Dimitri", while Iris said his name was "Ivan"), should go with her, the young Lagunov was her personal butler and occasionally her driver after all those years to pay his loans. He studied violin like he dreamed of, but Iris was so attached to him that her papa gave him a promotion and three times his usual income to keep serving her. It was a good enough payment, so he never complained, not even when they called him by the wrong name, and he was pretty sure they did it on purpose. The Penguin had always spoiled her rotten and she had always accepted it gladly. But Iris wanted to be alone, so they respected her will.

She dug a small but deep grave. Iris remembered well enough where the tree that Cory fell off was, she also remembered what she felt for the poor bird and the first time that she saw Harvey and Jim. How could she forget the first impression that she had of her soul mate? Tears rolled down her cheeks while she hold his small feathered body, she let her emotions flow freely so she cried, hit the grass and yelled all she wanted. Her heart was broken and with a void.

"Why, my dear Cory?" Iris whispered to herself, throwing her body over the grave after covering it with earth and flowers.

"I'm so sorry for your loss..."said a saddened voice that she would recognize anywhere because it soothed her maiden heart unlike anything else. Two strong arms with a familiar warmth wrapped her body and lifted her from the ground, making the skirt of her jet black dress flutters until her feet were in the ground again.

"Jim?" she tried her best to dry her eyes when she saw him behind her shoulders, with his arms still around her. "Why are you here?" Iris asked afraid that he could hear her heart pounding loudly.

"I didn't mean to pry on you, I was just on my way to get some lunch and I saw you here. I heard everything, I will also miss Cory, even if he always bit me. I came to see if you will be fine." Jim tried to explain, realizing he was still holding her, he let go, against his will.

"Later I will be. He was very special to me, not only a warbler. He was with me at school, at tea time, at bed, even at all the moments you and I shared together when I was little!" the salty tears came again.

Jim pulled her against his chest and held her, whispering several times that everything would be okay. That he was sorry, would never leave her, and would fix her pain, as he was passing his thumb under her eyes to stop the flowing tears.

He could feel her heart beating against his, the sound of it was at their ears already. None of them wanted to let go. Jim understood too well what a loss was, because of his father. What he told Iris about after they met again the year before(and since that occasion they made time to see each other almost at a daily basis), or the loss of a living person, like Lee, but in this case he was ready to move on.

Still, Iris had had so many losses in her life since she was a baby that he felt terribly sorry for her. She was his angel, she couldn't bear huge pains like this, he wanted, no, he needed her to smile and be happy for both of them, otherwise he couldn't keep going. If he had to hold her forever for this to happen, then he would. He was too addicted to her scent of honey and vanilla to release her anyway. He wasn't even paying attention to his mind screaming "she is the daughter of the Riddler and the Penguin, let her go. It can never happen and she is too young!"

Her wavy dark brown hair under his fingers was so silky-smooth that Jim couldn't resist to caress it, at this moment he felt her breath in her firm chest stop, as if she was waiting for his next action. Letting his instincts guide him, he took a step back to see her face again and cupped both her cheeks on his hands.

"Jim..." Iris sighed and put her right hand on top of his, still resting on her face. "You are my hero."

"It's been a long time since I considered myself a hero, Iris... I don't even know anymore if I can save someone. I did a lot of bad things, you know?" he answered with a cold and sour expression.

"I don't know and I don't care about the other people, but you have always been and will always be my hero and my prince. I know this since I first saw you at this park..." Iris saw no reason to hide her true feelings.

"..." Jim was speechless after such bold confession. He wouldn't dare to ask if she was being serious, he could read it in her eyes. She was a woman strong enough to know her feelings since she was a child, he knew it. What he didn't know was that she had spent her whole life in love with him and wasn't sure if he deserved it, actually. Suddenly he remembered what Bullock said about her being his sun, what Alfred said, and a bunch of other people too. It was like everyone else could predict their future, except himself.

If he had a chance to be truly happy, it was in his hands, literally. He knew she wasn't Barbara, Lee, Valerie, Sofia or any other mistake he did in life. Maybe that's why he yearned for her so badly that he threw away his logical side, touching her parted lips with his fingers and drawing her closer each passing second. Jim was aware that a girl like her would not kiss anyone she didn't love, so he knew that it would be her first kiss, but he wanted to have all of them.

"And you are my angel, the only light in my life."

Covering her lips with his, he sealed his fate, not caring about her origins or parents. Kissing her was so sweet and light he couldn't grow tired of it, but he cared about her enough to keep it slow so she could get used to it and reciprocate in her own pace. At first she was too shocked to even close her eyes or react, but after coming to her senses and seeing that it was really happening. The man of her dreams was really kissing her, so Iris put everything she had to offer him with that kiss. Pure love, devotion, caring, loyalty, be by his side no matter what, she gave all that with her lips. When the lack of air became unbearable, they released each other, spending several minutes without saying a single word, waiting the other one to talk about what just happened.

"I'm so screwed, aren't I?" Jim was the first to talk.

"How so?" she smiled weakly.

"Your parents will kill me because I just said farewell forever to all my exes."

"What is that even supposed to mean?"

"That kissing you was a wonder, the best thing I have ever did in my life, so much that I won't be able to live without it from now on. I wouldn't trade it for anything so I don't know what I should do," he anxiously ran his fingers through his hair.

"To be fair, I think only papa would kill you, daddy has other concerns, but before this, why don't you tell me what you want to do?" Iris put her arms around his neck to look into his eyes, as blue and wonderful as hers.

"Me? I want you to be mine in a way that nothing can keep us apart. I want to face the horrible things that will keep happening in Gotham, then letting you show me light, hope and love. If I'm your first love, I want to be your last one, and for you to be my last and true love too. So tell me Iris, what do you want me to do?" he put his forehead on hers.

"I want you to kiss me again, you fool." she answered sincerely.

"If you insist," Jim smirked and took her lips again. He was too blind by his newly found love for her to see if they were being seen by someone or not, he couldn't care less about the Penguin or anyone else.

Or so he thought.

 _16.3: A rarity of a promise_

24th of December. One day after Iris's huge birthday party for the whole city. Why have a Sweet Sixteen if one can have an even Sweeter Seventeen, right? Of course talking about papa's little gothic doll, the party was a lush and aristocratic dark themed ball, an amazing success with fancy food, decoration in honor of her and gifts. It wouldn't be her birthday if Oswald didn't cry because their little girl was almost an adult now and time passed too fast. Edward on the other hand, couldn't be prouder of the kind, smart, loving, strong willed and hard working woman Iris became, always going after what she dreamed of. Her efforts were really paying off, she always got the lead roles in every play she took to test. A small but rather important theater company offered her a contract for two years. She still performed at Iceberg Lounge on weekends, and she also started giving drama classes for children in the community theater.

Ed was also proud of her for finding true love. Yes, he had eyes and parenting senses sharpness enough to see what was going on between his honeybee and captain Gordon. Though she didn't say a word about it to them since the day she buried her deceased warbler, three weeks before.

Oswald arrived home before her that day, after going out looking for her since she was taking so long to come back. Filled with rage and panic, yelling that he would kill Jim slowly and make sure that no one would find his body, that he was destroying their baby's innocence and purity. When Edward asked what happened, he described in details the kissing scene. Ed wasn't truly surprised, he had the feeling that this day would come, he knew about their daughter's feelings towards Jim since she hit puberty. Before he thought it was simply a precocious crush... Still, he wanted to support her and whoever she dated, especially because if Iris chose to love the most meritorious, decent and kind guy on Earth, then she would never become evil and a villain.

Edward loved being the Riddler, and loved that Oswald was the Penguin, but he wouldn't want the bad parts of it to befall his precious little girl, he loved her too much to wish a criminal life for her, so with James Gordon she would be absolutely safe, despite him being their enemy on streets.

So, instead of telling his thoughts about the subject to Oswald, he just stated that she could make her decisions and they should support her as parents in any possible way. That it wouldn't be an issue (he lied about this part, he knew she and Jim would engage in a serious relationship knowing both of them), and that Iris would hide a lot of things from Oswald if he didn't show her she could trust him. So he couldn't go after the captain and reveal that he spied on her. Oswald decided to let it slide, but made clear that he wouldn't forgive Jim.

Then Ed's biggest task at the party was to make sure that his "wifey" wouldn't talk to Jim even a single time, making room for Iris and Jim to stay alone together, being as affectionate as they wished. But there was two scenes that Ed witnessed: when Jim gave her his gift, a wonderfully shiny, well cut and pure heart shaped pendant made of London blue topaz attached in a platinum string that he put around her neck, not without kissing it first. Second was when he took his vampire-looking daughter that was wearing a black and red Victorian dress, to dance (he had to admit: they moved so naturally and nicely together that it was like watching pros, they really were suited for each other) and they acted in a way that would make any doubt about their feelings vanish for whoever watched them together.

Good thing he sent Oswald away to see the ice sculpture that was breaking right before it (Ed just wouldn't tell the Penguin that he did that to the sculpture to create a scene to make him leave). Edward wasn't exactly pleased, but he was happy and ready to do everything he could to support and encourage their relationship. And he would talk to Jim alone later.

It was almost time for Gotham' s Christmas Celebration, a tradition recreated and extended by mayor Cobblepot years before, when he was in charge. Luckily the subsequent mayors kept it, so the city would forget at least once a year about their tragedies. Instead of getting ready for that night, Jim and Iris were having a quick date planned by him, inside a cake shop.

"So, what are we doing here in Christmas?" she asked puzzled.

"What? I can't see my cute beloved girlfriend only because today we have the city party to attend?"

"I-I didn't say... that," her face grew hot. She wasn't used to this title yet, they had been dating for three weeks only, since the day they confessed their feelings.

"And don't try to say you don't like cake, I know you love it. So I asked myself: why not enjoy some alone time before meeting everyone at night?" he justified while feeding her red velvet cake.

"Do you really need to do... it?" Iris felt awfully embarrassed when he fed her. It was totally different from when she was little and Oswald did it.

"Spoiling you? Yes, I need to." he licked frosting from her mouth. "At least that's one thing I have in common with your parents."

"Are you serious?" she took a sip of her hot chocolate. "They don't know about us, nobody does."

"I wouldn't say that," he coughed.

"Oh my God... who the heck knows?" she wished to die of embarrassment.

"Let's see... Harvey, Barbara, Bruce, Alfred, Selina, Tabitha, Butch, Ivy...I think only them."

"Why would you tell them?! If aunt Ivy and aunt Babs know, they will tell papa!" Iris yelled attracting all the attention of the clients to her.

"They won't! Even if they did, you can't hide forever from your family, you know? I say that as the person that is more afraid of them finding out," he averted his eyes, which Iris found rather suspicious.

"Jim, what are you doing?" she sighed heavily, narrowing her eyes.

"What are you talking about, babydoll?" he forced a smile.

"You are hiding something from me. And you can't cover it using pet names to distract me. You talked with someone else, didn't you?" she inquired him.

"Why would I, babydoll? Are you implying that your daddy talked to me right before I went home?" Jim's face fell when he noticed that he talked too much.

"WHAT?! Daddy talked to you?! About what?!" she hit the table with both her hands.

"He... just asked if I enjoyed the party and thanked me for always looking after you all these years..."

"Really?"

"Yes, and he gave me this." he took out of his coat her old purple bat, all sewed with different tissues by Ed since it was destroyed when she was eight. The plush was kinda mushy after so long, but it still preserved her fond childhood memories, even if she forgot about it when she became a preteen. She didn't even remember it had a huge scar on its belly.

"What for?" she touched the toy gently, feeling nostalgic and emotional.

"So I could give it back to you, but I want you to look at it closely." Jim put the bat on her hands.

"What should I..." the belly was different of what she remembered because now it had a thin zipper. Feeling the bat wanted her to pull it down, she opened the plush, put her hand inside it and when she felt the cotton balls that stuffed it, something cold hit her fingers. She looked at Jim trying to understand what was going on, but he didn't say a word, he kept waiting for her to go on. She touched the strange object, feeling it was round and small, and a bit heavy... sick of this riddle (she had enough of them with her daddy everyday), she took it out of the bat – it was a ring. She recognized pretty well rose gold when she saw it, as well as diamonds, even when they were shaped like two bees with a sapphire flower in the middle. Wait, what was that just now? Her face went pale.

"J-Jim, care to explain it?"

"It will be my pleasure." he took the ring and slid it in her ring finger. "Iris, I have suffered enough in life to know what true happiness looks like, and it looks like a slightly creepy and very lovely doll. We have known each other since you were a little girl, and I saw you that way until we met again after so many years. Then I could see the real you, a shiny beauty with a strong heart full of love. If I need to say with words that I love you every day for the rest of my life, I will, if it means you will be my wife and be by my side while we still breathe. So will you give me this honour?" he offered her his free hand to take depending on her answer.

"Oh my..." she was about to cry with the overflowing joy she felt. She didn't care everyone witnessing it. "I would love to." she put her hand on his.

"Thank you. I know you will start your last year of school, are busy with your actress job and all that, but by the time of your next birthday we can get married. I really thought a lot about it, and wouldn't it be amazing to tell everyone today at the party?"

"It would, I mean, it will be blissful. I'm just happy you want it to happen. I... love you so much, Jim." she gave him a swift kiss.

"And I love you too, more than anything. Truth be told, Edward already knows, he was the one that suggested I put the ring inside the bat." he admitted.

"Daddy did it?" she was at a loss of words.

"I was surprised indeed, but he wants the best for you. I know Oswald does too."

"I know... Papa said something so weird this morning..." Iris thought back.

"What was it, babydoll?"

"I was laying on my side in bed, and he came from behind me, hugged me and said: do you remember when we first met, bee-hummingbird? I said I would be your first friend before I became your papa, and I really meant it. I want to always be your friend, so you can tell me anything even if I won't like it. I have never once grounded you, I wouldn't start now. I want you to be happy, no matter with who, as long as he or she treats you right. Then he left before I could say anything." she recited every single word with tears in her eyes.

"Iris..." he softly dried her eyes with the tissue napkin. "Then maybe he will let me live long enough to tell the whole city about what a beautiful and wonderfully spoiled fiancée I have." he joked, nudging her cheek. "Don't worry, babydoll, I will make sure to keep your level of spoiling high, starting tomorrow." Jim promised. He knew since she was a child that Iris was the sweetest girl in the world, but at the same time she was the most finicky, thanks to her parents. She could even be childish and bratty sometimes, but he proposed to her exactly because he knew all of her flaws and virtues, just like she knew his.

"Thank you… Oh and my friends will be really happy too, especially Rosie... I don't know about Melissa though, since she wanted me to date her brother..."

"The guy who didn't show up to your date when you were fifteen?"

"Yes, but I'm pretty sure it was uncle Gabe's doing. As well as I know uncle Victor was stalking us when you saw me alone and took me to Harvey's pub to calm down and have a soda." she laughed.

"Did you know I almost kissed you that day?" Jim admitted.

"For real? Why didn't you?" her frustration took over and Iris said it too loud.

"Because we had just retaken contact and all, I was scared. All I could do was hold your hand on our way back." he blushed.

"And it made me really happy. I bet uncle Victor saw it too and didn't tell papa." she concluded fondly.

"So, now that you didn't embarrassed me in front of everyone here by saying no, let's go. We have a party to attend so we can steal all the attentions." Jim took her by the hand with the engagement ring on.

"I can't wait." she giggled excitedly.

"And the best part of getting married is that you will be eighteen, so there will be a lot of new ways for me to make you happy by then..." he teased with a whisper, she simply punched his chest in return.

"Said the captain that must respect all the laws but is too anxious to wait. Also, you are lucky I agreed to marry you, considering you have never watched me on the Iceberg. Actually I just agreed because the ring matches my necklace you gave me yesterday!" she pouted.

"Hey, I just couldn't, babydoll. How would I explain my presence there to your papa? Now it's a totally different story because I will be part of the family too, just like Harvey said I would when you were eight." he laughed remembering the occasion. "But to be fair, I know pretty well that you said yes because you love me, and you must remember that I have been helping you to rehearse your lines for all your plays since you were fifteen. I just don't get why you always choose musical ones."

"Because I love singing as much as acting, my handsome captain. Get used to it if we will be married next Christmas." she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

Not only the Christmas party would bring a lot of joy and surprises, but so would their future with everyone else they knew and loved.

 _ **Final notes: Your favorite pink pony nurse is back after being so apologetic and living a crisis! So let's explain what you need to know:**_

 _ **1) it's being a lot of work to bring this second half of the story for you since I don't have a notebook and I'm writing on a tablet so it may not be perfect, but I'm trying.**_

 _ **2) as you noticed, there was a huge time skip and two minor ones, yeah, that escalated quickly… I made it in order to prepare everything to tell the story I really want to, without fillers and useless scenarios. I wish to give you a familiar, lovely and comedic slice of life about the daily lives of people who love their family, friends and lovers. And I'm presenting you with the shipping we all wanted, that was my main plan as most of you must have noticed in the last chapters, so if you feel uncomfortable with the age gap, I will understand the loss of a reader, but I won't change that, it's end game, it has always been. And in this story, a proposal isn't the end, but the beginning, a lot of stuff will happen especially involving our beloved nygmob parents and other important characters, be aware that hilarity and cuteness will ensue. I also changed stuff from the original series, otherwise we wouldn't even have nygmob, right? So, Bruce is a hero already and no major deaths occurred (except Cory's one, of course, we will never forget the lil buddy), so Alfred, Selina, Bruce, Babs, Tabs, Butch, Gabe, Victor, Ivy, they are all fine, I will only use the canon events I need.**_

 _ **3) I'm changing the format of updates. I would rather give you light, quick, short and more frequent shots of medicine than long, complicated and badly scheduled ones, so yeah, there will be a bunch of short chapters often from now on, that can be read separately or in any order. And don't worry, the NO DRAMA NO BLOOD policies are still on, we wont have any THOT either. I will try my best to keep up with the new schedule. I hope you will love and trust me again. See you! Be nice, take your medicine and gain a lollipop! And we will be the best friends, forever (an extra candy if you got the pop reference).**_


	17. Chapter 17: A Special Lesson

**Beta: Spitfire47**

 **A/n: sorry had to change the rating because of this chapter. Hope everyone is enjoying S5! And happy Valentine's day !**

 **To Parent a Hummingbird - Part II**

 _Chapter 17:A Special Lesson_

The Christmas party flew by, especially to Iris and Jim when they took the spotlight announcing their engagement. Jim planned to take it easy, tell her parents first and then talk to the people closest to them. But Iris simply arrived right in front of the giant and glittering Christmas tree and yelled to everyone to hear that Jim proposed to her and she said yes. The immediate responses they got was the following: Oswald crushing his glass of wine holding it too strongly, Edward smirking and Harvey congratulating them just like Gabriel, Victor, Barbara and Ivy. Alfred nodded at Iris, confirming his vision from years before, and of course, Iris's three best friends pulled her for a group hug full of giggles and excited screams.

Oswald wanted to kill Jim in front of everyone. Though knowing that it was Iris' s adult decision to make and that he promised to support her. But he calmed down when Emily, her party lover friend approached him with her shiny honey eyes, showing the checklist she wanted to create to plan a huge and wonderful wedding party, since she's the event planner. The Penguin was too shocked to react, but he loved the idea of making the best wedding ever for his little hummingbird, so he agreed to help her.

Rosalyn, her fashionista friend and talented seamstress immediately started to discuss with Iris ideas for her gown and for their own dresses as obviously the three of them would be the bridesmaids.

Melissa, her sports loving friend, as talented as the other two, was happy for her, despite thinking that the age gap was a bit too much. But she wanted to help with the event too, so she also listed her ideas as soon as the news were spilled.

Edward informed his honeybee that the next day they would start some training to make her become a good wife.

The hard part was making time to be with Jim between the wedding planning and their usual routine, even more because the date of premiere of Iris's most recent play was nearing. Still, she found a way to make it work the next weeks.

One day Iris woke up early because of a morning rehearsal season, so she wore her costume before leaving to save time: an antique style maid uniform, long and black. She had the leading role of an unfortunate and lonely chamber maid in a story called "a maid's afternoon", a tragedy with bits of romance. Iris packed her things and while she had breakfast with Oswald, Iris scheduled the time that she would meet her friends to discuss the party. Also the time she would use to learn how to sew with Ed, and left.

Her idea was to do the same thing she used to every single day, so Iris run as fast as she could to the police station. Ignoring the officials that greeted her at the entrance, knowing why she was there and took the stairs to the floor where Jim's office was, arriving there almost breathless.

"Good morning, my babydoll." he smiled brightly. "Why are you here so early?" He stood up from behind his desk and walked to his silent fiancée that kept staring at him. "Shouldn't you be headed to the theater?"

Instead of saying anything, she threw herself right into his arms, almost making him fall with the weight and kissed his lips desperately, unaware of the cops gathering to watch her.

"Just came to wish you a good day at work, my handsome captain." Iris finally said after recovering, then kissed him again. "Just like everyday."

"You surely know how much I cherish it." Jim smiled holding her face. "And I hope you have a great day too, my angel. So, our date this night is still up?"

"You bet!" she hugged him, mourning how much she would miss his warmth for long hours. "Dinner at Harvey's pub and a night walk, right?"

"That's right." Jim kissed her cheek. "I hate letting you go, but both of us have work today," he sighed, a bit saddened by it.

"Yeah, I wish I could stay here with you, but..." Iris paused, then beamed. "We have our whole lives to spend together!" she completed looking at her ring.

"Babydoll, go before I regret it," he stated, giving her a farewell quick peck.

With this, she left the GCPD building. Meanwhile one of the cops that watched their interactions went to talk to the captain.

"So, Captain Gordon. Where do I get my own hot, super young and wealth girlfriend?" he teased while the others tried hard to not to laugh.

"Shut up or I will fire all of you that were snooping." Jim threatened, going back to typing his files.

Time had never passed so slowly before for Iris. The rehearsal was great, she had memorized all her lines and worked in improving her facial expressions. With her friends she researched some options for a dark themed wedding, resembling her birthday party but at least one thing they decided for sure: her gown would be black and dramatic, and the bridesmaids dresses would be orchid purple. After this meeting, it was time to go home.

"Honeybee, I'm glad you made it in time. How was the meeting and the rehearsal?" the Riddler greeted her. Iris was still getting used to his new looks with green shaded glasses, a green suit full of question marks and a cane with the same symbol on top.

"Hi daddy, both were great. Where's papa?"

"Right here, my chick." Oswald appeared from behind the curtains, careful to not ruin his purple suit.

"Sorry papa, but I can't get used to... this," she pointed at his black top hat.

"Why not? It's perfect with my red glasses," he joked. "Well, I won't use it now since we are working in the kitchen today."

"What? Oswald, today she has knitting lessons with me!" Edward interrupted.

"No, I'm pretty sure I will teach her how to make chicken soup," Oswald insisted with his husband.

"Maybe later, wifey, she scheduled the class with me. Our daughter must be able to make winter clothes!"

"She won't need it if they die because of a cold caused by lack of soup! Or if she wants to I can teach how to poison it," the Penguin murmured.

"WHAT?!" Iris heard the last part.

"I'm just kidding, bee-hummingbird. Or not if he annoys you too much."

"Papa!" she shouted angrily.

"Sorry, I will get used to the idea of you getting married to Jim, of all people in the world. Promise," Oswald looked away. "And Ed, you are right. Teach her now and I will do it later."

"Oh, but tonight I have a date with Jim, so I can't take long here." Iris remembered. As much as she loved spending time with her parents, she had to stay with her fiancé too.

"Fine. We can do it tomorrow then," he hold his tongue to not curse. "Always this bastard, since she was eight." Oswald mumbled to himself and left again.

"Great. Now that he left, I can tell you a secret, Iris," Edward called her to come closer to him.

"What is it, daddy?" she got curious.

"Knitting isn't the only thing I will teach you today," he confessed.

"I see..." she looked at him unsure of what he meant. "What else will it be?"

"Well, you do know I'm a bottomless pit of knowledge about everything, right?" Iris nodded. "So I want to give you all kind of tips and hints, because I want your relationship with Jim to last forever until death do you apart." Nygma was so grateful for their engagement keeping her away from crimes that he wanted to improve their future marriage in any way he could. "Do you understand me?"

"Oh God." Iris, being almost as smart as Edward, took pretty well the meaning of it and it was too weird even for her. "Daddy, you can't be serious!"

"Come on, little bee. I promise it will be really useful and informative. I won't be explicit and we can stop the lessons if you feel uncomfortable. I just want you to know how to... have fun with him, even before the wedding, it's not a big deal as he makes it seems!"

"What kind of parent offers seduction lessons to the daughter?"

"A parent that want his daughter to succeed in making her beloved fiancé happy and becoming happier because of it!" Ed argued. "You don't need to do anything you don't want to, but I know you love making things interesting as long as you can have joy in it."

"Well... that's true though. And it's really boring having to wait until next Christmas." Iris admitted. She thought that the so-called law Jim wanted to follow was stupid anyway.

"Great. Now that we agree on something, let's get started with the needles and the theory. I will even give you money to go shopping before your date." the Riddler smiled, thinking about the little revenge he would get on Jim with it. Iris was the Riddler and the Penguin's daughter, so she definitely wasn't above malice and sadism.

After her daddy's lessons, Iris felt uncertain deep down. Surely he kept his promise and just told her "level one" tricks at first. If she liked his ideas, he would teach her more advanced ones the next time. Still, she wasn't sure if she should make some "tests"… It would be too interesting and a lot of fun to at least see Jim's reactions, even if he didn't indulge in her wishes. If it worked, then even better for her. Besides, being such good guy, he needed to learn some lessons too, especially about how to show Iris how much he loved her. They enjoyed calm and nice dates, so maybe things would get a bit weird if she did that, but still such a tempting idea… With all this in mind, she went to the mall. She needed new clothes to their date after all.

In the end, Iris arrived there wearing a new and warm outfit, perfect for cold romantic meetings: a long sleeved and tight black dress made of fine wool, thick grey stockings to protect her legs that the dress barely covered and leather boots. Everything was in the right place if she decided to make Ed proud of her.

Harvey's pub was a traditional Irish pub, from the décor to the menu, a nice refuge from Gotham's craziness. That's why she liked going there so much, not to mention how nice Bullock was with her since she was a little girl. She would meet Jim inside, so she arrived alone and soon the owner met her in the door.

"Hey, sunshine. Look at you!" Harvey twirled her. "You are all grown up and engaged to my best friend! Boy, time surely passes fast."

"It's nice seeing you too, Harv. How have you been here?" Iris relaxed and smiled.

"Pretty much the same clients come, but at least people drink a lot when it's cold, so better for me." He laughed. "You look stunning, sunshine. Come in, Jimbo is already waiting for you."

"Oh no, so I'm late?" she panicked a little. Iris hated losing track of the time.

"Of course not, Iris," he assured her. "He arrived too early, I guess it's because he was too anxious waiting for the date." Bullock smiled amused. "I definitely don't recognize him anymore."

"Is that so?"

"Actually, yes. If he has ever been so deeply in love before, I have never seen it." Harvey commented, making Iris go speechless and blush. Like that she walked to the table, making Jim avert his gaze when he spotted her.

"Jim, are you okay?" Iris asked finding it quite suspicions. She always knew when he was keeping a secret to himself.

"Y-Yes… Iris." He stuttered unable to look directly at her.

"Then why won't you look me in the eyes and say it?" Instead of sitting down, she stopped in front of him, then noticing a slightly red shade spreading to his face.

"Oh boy, you can't be serious, Jimbo!" Harvey laughed loudly, understand pretty well the situation. Knowing that Iris deserved to know what was going on, he continued. "So years ago when you went on dates with Lee, you didn't even notice how nicely she dressed for you and kept thinking about work. Now that you are in your forties you can't even face your fiancée because you think she looks too hot to handle?" he explained while trying to calm down and stopping laughing.

"Excuse me?" Iris thought she was hearing things when he said that. If this was true then she made a decision that moment. He would pay for hiding such silly things from her and for ignoring her presence during their date because he was afraid of too much physical contact. So, she simply put on her nicest smile and turned to Bullock. "Harv, do you mind bringing us some whiskey?"

"Even for you? We have laws, you know?"

"I know, my uncles are nice enough to explain them to me. But it's so cold outside, you know? And we are long term friends, I know you won't let me go too far." Using her sweetest tone of her silent voice, she persuaded him, taking her seat. The first thing she did was taking Jim's hand between hers. So he finally faced her.

"Sorry for spacing out, babydoll," he kissed her hand.

"It's alright. I'm happy you think I look that pretty today," Iris smiled warmly, she was happy for this indeed.

"Don't get me wrong, you always look pretty, but today's dress is really flattering and nicely matched."

"Hey, I understand. No need to justify yourself like this, even if it's so adorable to watch you like this," she chuckled.

"Here you go, my lovebirds." Harvey put their whiskey glasses on the table.

"Thanks." Iris was the first to drink it.

"Take it easy, babydoll. You aren't eating anything yet," Jim warned her.

"Then order whatever you want, I'm just thirsty and cold," she ignored. Of course he would think she would be a light weight drinking, but everything she did was well planned.

"If you say so."

Things went as normal as possible during the first five rounds. With each glass Jim became more and more open to staring at his fiancée's body and to PDAs, after two more rounds Iris was already sitting on his lap and passionately making out. Then the fun would begin. Iris stopped kissing to study his face. It was possible to see that despite being a bit tipsy, he knew what he was doing, perfect scenario to practice her small and innocent vendetta. Adjusting her body, both legs straddled him with her knees still in his chair, she kissed and licked his neck, feeling him slightly shiver. Iris smirked. The almighty captain James Gordon that chased mad criminals all day was that weak for her? She felt a strange joy with it, like the Riddler said she would.

"I'm glad you like this dress, Jim. The wool is of high quality, see?"

In the most natural way, Iris took his hands and put them on her breasts covered by the dress. Slowly dragging them down all the way to her hips, she feels him gripping every bit of flesh instead of protesting and pulling away.

Jim knew it would end very badly to him, but he wasn't thinking straight. If he was, he wouldn't even have fallen in love with her when she was fifteen, but his rational side always lost the battles when it was about Iris. Feeling her body was so magnificent he couldn't resist, even with clothes on. He had at least two good reasons to "feel the wool", two soft and firm reasons. When his hands were on her hips, she stroked her hands inside his shirt, letting them wander freely feeling his muscles, what made her heartbeats speed up.

"Gosh, why do you have to be so handsome and strong?" Iris practically moaned the question.

"So I can protect the woman I love." His right hand slipped her stockings up until her inner thighs that he caressed slowly. "W-what are you doing?" He was taken aback by surprise when she started rocking her hips against his body, dangerously close.

"Showing my gratitude, of course, my handsome captain."

Before he could stop her, she slid her tongue inside his mouth, without stopping her legs. James moved his fingers quicker inside her dress, if it kept going, in no time he would touch her underwear and even further.

"You…" he gasped for oxygen, almost forgetting to breath. "You are insane… we are still in the pub." Jim tried to argue, even enjoying a bit too much the situation.

"Then that must be why everyone left," she laughed feigning innocence.

"What?" he looked nervously around and not even Harvey was anywhere in his vision. Then a particularly promising move from her hips stopped his train of thought. "Teaser."

"So what? Let's pretend you don't want or even long for it?" she sped up her pace, concentrating her lips on his neck again. "Anyone could feel it in the air, Jim." Iris opened the buttons from her neck to her chest, putting her exposed breasts near his lips. "I more than anyone can see it. The burning desire growing up inside your blood, taking your mind, making your body obey only your instincts…"

With this, two of his fingers went inside her panties.

"Do it. Entertain me," Iris gasped as she spread her shapely legs more to let his fingers move better. Jim convinced himself that it wouldn't be that wrong to satisfy her that way, but the last hit came when she opened her mouth again. "Have you heard what will open?"

"What?" he asked light headed.

"It's my legs for you, silly," she whispered in a sultry voice, bouncing against his fingers inside her. If Jim had a chance to stop it, it was long gone. Too bad the same wasn't true for Iris that was absolutely in control of the situation. "That is, if you deserved it." Suddenly stopping everything she was doing, she stood up and fixed her clothes. She was intoxicated by this recent power she got, Edward was right, it was a unique sensation. That's why it was just the first level.

"Wait. What just happened?" Jim finally woke up from the desire atmosphere.

"Well, it would be good, but we are late to our walk and Harvey needs to close the pub." Iris acted normally.

"You can't be serious!"

"Oh, but I am. Besides it was your idea to procrastinate it," she reminded him. "Now let's go."

Iris put a good amount of money on the table and left, leaving Jim dumbfounded with her new ways. Iris was seriously torturing him and enjoying every minute of it! She couldn't deny her origins for sure, just the Riddler loved tormenting people like that, he knew it. So why was it such amazing and sweet torture? What else was she capable of doing to provoke him and getting her way offering herself? The worst and most pathetic part was that Jim was unable to put an end to it, he only could either endure or indulge in her offer. And he wasn't sure of the answer, but it would be a night-long pleasure to find out.

And Iris? She was smiling wildly, feeling the cold air hitting her face joyfully, drunk not by the whiskey but by her recent discovers. Oh, the Riddler would be even prouder of her for her capacity to torture and control her fiancé that coincidentally was his enemy! So would the Penguin someday, she was sure of it!


End file.
